A mother and daughter spoke of their anger today after security guards banned them from dancing at a One Direction concert.
Tracey Clarke, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, spent £96 on two tickets to the event as a 13th birthday present for her daughter, Kelsey.
The pair joined thousands of fans at Manchester's Etihad Stadium last Sunday, where they stood up and started dancing along to the band's hit songs.
But just minutes later, they were told to stop dancing by two security guards because of health and safety concerns.
Stewards had enforced the ban on level three of the arena amid fears that overexcited fans could be seriously injured if they fell from the top tier, according to an Etihad Stadium spokesman.
But today, Ms Clarke, 42, said not being able to dance had 'spoiled the show' for her and Kelsey.
'It was ridiculous. We were just bobbing up and down in our seats, but the security guards said we were putting our and other people's lives at risk,' said the full-time mother.
'Even when we sat down and were moving our arms around they came over and said we were still dancing and threatened to kick us out.
'They warned everyone on our row that they were not allowed to dance. Lots of fans were in tears.
'It's a total farce. The stewards were just watching us the whole time and though the lads were great, it spoiled the show a bit.
'It was such a shame because we'd all been looking forward to the concert.'
Ms Clarke said she had bought the tickets for level three of the stadium a year ago, but had not been warned of the dancing ban.
'I booked the tickets 12 months ago because they sell out so fast,' she said.
'The tickets came in the post two weeks ago, and they seemed absolutely fine, but when we got to the show they told us we had to stay in our seats.'
'I've never been to a concert before where you have not been able to dance, and there was nothing about this when I booked the tickets online.'
Kelsey, whose bedroom is plastered with posters of One Direction, said that being told to stop dancing along to her idols' songs had left her feeling 'devastated'.
'I was really excited when I found out my mum had got me the tickets,' she said.
'It was a long wait for the concert, and I was really looking forward to dancing along to all my favourite songs by my favourite band.
'I was devastated when I wasn't allowed to dance. It just didn't seem very fair to me - all the people in the rows behind and elsewhere in the stadium were allowed to dance, but we weren't.
'I just didn't enjoy the whole show as much as I should have.'
An Etihad Stadium spokesman said level three of the arena 'was netted off for safety reasons at the front row, as we were concerned that due to the excitement, mainly young girls were jumping up and down too close to the perimeter wall'.
He added: 'It's quite a steep drop as you can imagine, therefore, spectators closest to the wall were asked to sit down for their and the others spectators' safety.'
One Direction - featuring band members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne - are currently touring the UK.
They are playing at Wembley Stadium in London tonight.
Source
