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View image in fullscreenLiverpool fans ‘staggered’ by lack of traffic control at victory parade

Several in attendance say they weren’t surprised a collision could take place, with access described as a ‘free-for-all’

Football fans who were at Liverpool’s Premier League title victory parade, where a car ploughed into pedestrians injuring more than 50 people, have said they were “staggered” by the lack of traffic control measures in place before the incident.

A 53-year-old man from the West Derby area of the city was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, driving while unfit through drugs, and dangerous driving.



Merseyside police said detectives had been granted more time to question the man, with an extension until Thursday.

The force has identified 79 people who were injured in the incident on Water Street on Monday, with 50 treated in hospital.

Of those, seven remained in hospital for treatment on Wednesday afternoon, all in a stable condition, police said.

“I’m pleased to say that the number of people in hospital is reducing as they continue to recover from the awful incident,” Det Supt Rachel Wilson said.

“I want to reassure the public of Merseyside that detectives are making significant progress as we seek to establish the full circumstances that led to what happened.”

The police and Liverpool council have said that traffic management plans were in operation at the event, including rolling road closures and hostile vehicle measures.

The Merseyside police assistant chief constable Jenny Sims said on Tuesday: “We had worked extensively with event organisers and key partner agencies in the months ahead of the potential parade, and a robust traffic management plan was put in place, which included a number of local authority road closures throughout the route and the city centre.

“This included Water Street, which was closed to traffic.

When hundreds of thousands of people are close together, the traffic must be cordoned off with barriers protecting the whole route and not just the endpoints.”

Phil Williams, from Sunderland, who was watching the parade with his 15-year-old son Harry, said he had not seen “any traffic control measures to prevent him and other cars coming along there the way they did”.

“I’m absolutely staggered that the road closures didn’t go further,” he added.

Adrian Littlermore, 59, from Winchester, said that even outside the city centre, pedestrians were being “pushed into the road”.

He said: “You could tell the police there weren’t happy and were asking each other who was letting the cars through.

It wasn’t the fault of the police there, but it was like a free-for-all.”

On Wednesday the prime minister visited Merseyside police headquarters and met with the deputy chief constable , assistant chief constable, the police and crime commissioner, Emily Spurrell, and the Metro mayor, Steve Rotheram.

At the start of the meeting, Keir Starmer said: “Thank you all for making time.