MANAGERS of Oxford Greyhound Stadium have decided not to host any more late-night parties after a flood of complaints.

The stadium has been providing a venue for so-called ‘Bashment’ parties until 5am, causing sleepless nights for nearby residents.

Since January, it has hosted seven of the events – featuring urban music similar to dancehall and reggae – and had agreed to stage five more later this year.

On Sunday residents claimed hundreds of noisy revellers woke them up as they left the venue, and several cars were damaged.

Police were sent to the Sandy Lane area of Blackbird Leys after reports that some of the partygoers were fighting with knives, sticks and bricks.

In Thursday’s Oxford Mail we reported that Thames Valley Police’s licensing co-ordinator, Tony Cope, planned to hold talks with the stadium’s managers to discuss the situation.

But last night stadium manager Maureen Ridley said she had decided to cancel all the future dates to safeguard her licence.

Mrs Ridley said the parties had been a good source of income for the stadium at a difficult time.

But she added: “At the end of the day I’ve got 103 people’s jobs on the line, almost every one of them local people, from Blackbird Leys and Cowley. If there’s any question of my licence being under threat, the people who work for me are my first priority.

“I’ve never seen a problem inside or outside the stadium caused by anyone attending one of these events and I have attended all seven.

“They’ve always been good as gold. But I’ve been left with no option.”

Oxford City Council said that until January it had not received a complaint about the stadium since 2007. However, since the first Bashment party was held at the start of this year, it had written to the managers twice after complaints from residents.

Mr Cope said the stadium had been more than co-operative, but if the problems had continued there was a strong possibility the stadium’s licence would have been under threat.

He added: “We have now looked into what happened at the Bashment event hosted by the Oxford Greyhound Stadium on Sunday.

“Although we feel that the event was initially well managed, there was some disorder when party-goers left at 5.30am.

“We have taken on board the concerns of the community and have spoken to the stadium manager, who has been very co-operative. She has agreed to cancel all further events of this type at the venue, and can retain her licence as a result.”

Last night, a spokesman for residents of Sandy Lane, who did not want to be named, said they were pleased with the stadium’s actions.

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk