September 8, 2009 11:57

Hillsborough disaster could happen again at a rock concert, warns Jimmy McGovern

Liverpool writer McGovern says gigs aren't safe enough

Liverpudlian writer Jimmy McGovern has warned that the Hillsborough football disaster of 1989 could happen again at a rock concert because of serious lapses in crowd safety.

96 football fans died and nearly 800 more were injured as a result of a human crush at a match between Liverpool FC and Sheffield Wednesday FC at the Hillsborough stadium on April 15 1989.

McGovern, who won acclaim for documenting the tragedy in his 1996 TV drama 'Hillsborough', said more effort should be put into making gigs safe.

"It should never be cost effective to take risks with public safety," he told the Liverpool Echo. "If a disaster like this happens again it will be at a big rock concert where there is not an appropriate level of care."

McGovern was speaking as 'Hillsborough' is released on DVD for the first time. He said he hopes the DVD release will inform a new generation about the tragedy.

"It's important the documentary gets a modern audience as a lot of people who go the match weren’t even born at the time of Hillsborough," McGovern explained.