Trains will once again not run on Lewes Bonfire Night over concerns that tens of thousands of people could swarm the town centre.
Emergency service staff planning the event have confirmed that no trains will run from Lewes and surrounding stations and roads will be closed to accommodate the massively popular annual event.
Now, Lewes District Council have stressed that the Bonfire Night festivities should be “for local people” rather than for the thousands who travel to the town for the event.
In a joint statement with Eastbourne District Council, the multi-agency group said: “Given that Lewes normally becomes significantly over-crowded on bonfire night, the multi-agency group's message is that this remains an event for local people.
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“There are concerns that more people than usual will come to Lewes this year as the event falls on a Saturday. Combined with significant amounts of fireworks, this presents a unique challenge to the multi-agency group tasked with ensuring public safety.”
In previous years, as many as 60,000 people have descended on the East Sussex town for the event which sees historic bonfire societies building effigies and parading through the streets.
The bonfire effigies often take on the guise of famous figures from the previous year with the last event including busts of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Vladimir Putin.
The multi-agency group confirmed that no trains would run from Lewes, Glynde, Southease, Cooksbridge or Falmer on the day Saturday, November 4, when the event is due to take place.
Trains will stop from 3pm and will not run for the rest of the day.
Additionally, roads surrounding Lewes will be closed from 4pm with parking restrictions imposed from 12pm.
Sussex Police officers will be on duty to support the event’s stewarding and security teams.
Anyone attending the event who sees suspicious activity or something that doesn’t seem right should report it to the stewarding teams or police officers on patrol.
Attendees are also reminded that the use of drones during the event is strictly prohibited and is a criminal offence.
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