Over 57,000 sign petition to save O2 Academy Brixton

An online petition calling for the O2 Academy Brixton to be saved from closure has received over 57,000 signatures.

The London music venue had its license suspended for three months following a request by the Metropolitan Police.

It comes after two people were killed in a crush when ticketless fans tried to force entry into a concert by Nigerian afro beats artist Asake on 15 December.

The Met Police applied for the site’s licence to be revoked but Lambeth Council is yet to make a ruling on whether the venue is considered safe to reopen.

A Met Police spokesperson said: "On Monday 16 January, the licence of the Brixton O2 Academy was suspended for three months. On 14 April, the Met Police submitted an application for a review of premises license to Lambeth Council and will be seeking a revocation of the licence.

"This matter will be decided at a future council sub-committee hearing on a date to be confirmed. "

The committee will need convincing that “necessary measures” have been taken to ensure visitors are safe, according to council documents.

A spokesperson for Academy Music Group (AMG), which owns the O2 Academy Brixton, told PA it had presented “detailed proposals” to help the site reopen safely.

The Change.org petition said that the O2 Academy Brixton is an “iconic London music venue” and its closure would mean “another part of the musical landscape and history is lost forever”.

“Bring in new security procedures including crowd control to ensure a repeat doesn't happen, but let's not turn this venue into soulless flats as would more than likely happen in the event of permanent closure,” the petition states.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has launched a separate inquiry into reports that security guards at the venue employed by AP Security regularly took bribes to let people in without tickets.

To view the petition click here.