Norwich council warns Junkyard Market over Euros farce

Norwich City Councillor Martin Schmierer issued the warning to the management of the city venue after football fans said they were left fearing for their safety at the showing of Sunday evening's match. 

England supporters claim the screening at the St Mary's Works site became chaotic when people were entering the venue without tickets.

They said that technical issues meant that one of the two outside screens didn't work, leading to a crowd crush as people tried to watch the game on the remaining screen, while others were climbing on unstable roofs to see the TV. 

Martin Schmierer said he hopes Junkyard has learned its lesson (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr Schmierer said: "The reports of the dangerous issues within the venue last week during the Euro 2024 final are highly concerning.

READ MORE: Football fans reveal 'night of pure chaos' at Junkyard's Euros final screening

"For councillors who sit on the city council's licensing committee, ensuring public safety is one of the key issues we always consider.

The event devolved into chaos and left people fearing for their safety (Image: Supplied)

"The security of the people attending must be of paramount importance.

"I and the other Green Party colleagues who represent the area sincerely hope that Junkyard's management learn the lessons from this incident so it is never repeated and I will be reaching out to them to seek these assurances."

A Norwich City Council spokeswoman added that Junkyard may not be granted an events license in future if the safety rules for such an event are not followed.  

Michael Femi-Ola apologised in the wake of the event (Image: Newsquest)

Michael Femi-Ola, Junkyard's founder, apologised amid the backlash, citing technical difficulties as a reason for the disruption. 

But a 28-year-old woman who left the venue at 9.15pm after feeling unsafe said she was horrified to see him giving people outside black bin bags to pick litter.

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"I couldn't believe it," she added.

"He told these people that the venue was full and the only way they could get in was if they picked up rubbish. 

Attendees who had bought tickets were forced to pick up litter just to get inside (Image: Supplied)

"Some of them had bought tickets and many of them were young. I just wanted to say 'do not pick up litter for these people, you've already given them your money'."

"It was so degrading. The whole thing just seems like a massive cash grab and pure greed."

Michael Femi-Ola has been contacted for a comment.