Wireless Festival did not breach its licence despite reports of sexual assaults, noise disturbance and anti-social behaviour, according to Haringey Council officers.

The grime music festival – which made headlines following the deaths of two people who attended the event this year – could be forced out of its Finsbury Park home due to a raft of complaints from people in nearby houses.

At a special licensing committee meeting held over two days this week (October 15 and 16), councillors heard evidence from organisers Live Nation and members of the public in relation to the 2017 Wireless Festival.

The event, which attracted crowds of more than 37,000 people, gave rise to 67 complaints over noise, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing, litter damage – and even reports of people defecating on doorsteps.

On Monday, the committee reviewed evidence from local people – including parents of young children – who complained they were being disturbed by noise and vibrations from the festival.

In a witness statement submitted to the meeting, Martin Ball, of residents’ group Friends of Finsbury Park (FoFP), called for the festival’s licence to be revoked.

He said: “Nearby residents and traders, plus park users, have a right to privacy and peaceful enjoyment of their home and amenities.

“The events of the scale of Wireless are inappropriate for the venue and cause major disruption to the surrounding community.”

There were 23 reported crimes in Finsbury Park over the weekend of the event in 2017 – 39 per cent of which were theft-related and 13 per cent sexual assault against females.

But on Tuesday council officers said they did not consider the organisers to have breached the licensing conditions of the prevention of public nuisance, the prevention of crime and disorder and protecting children from harm.

Eubert Malcolm, head of community safety and enforcement, said: “The crime figures should be noted in a wider context that over the course of a year in Finsbury Park there are an average of 200 reported crimes that are not related to the event.

“While recognising that Wireless events do cause disruption in the local area, in the view of the local authority, licensing objectives were not undermined.”

The festival organisers defended their record and pledged to bring in tighter safeguards at next year’s event to crack down on noise and anti-social behaviour.

They ruled out cutting the number of people attending the events to less than 35,000, claiming this would stop them attracting big-name artists and effectively shut down the festival.

The organisers also claimed they had teams in place to monitor noise and ensure it did not exceed levels agreed in the licensing conditions.

Philip Kolvin QC, the barrister representing Live Nation, said: “My client is deeply committed to continuing to engage and alive to the possibility of improving year-on-year.

“The independent evidence before you, including from people who are experts in their field, is that the impacts are mostly contained and limited in duration.”

Mr Kolvin also talked up the benefits of the festival to the cultural life of the city.

He said: “Haringey is a young and ethnically diverse borough. Wireless reflects and celebrates this.

“Wireless is a celebration of grime music. It is a music genre that emerged from London – it is London music.”

But Charles Streeten, the barrister representing FoFP, said councillors had a duty to represent the views of their electorate, who wanted the local authority to crack down on the noise and antisocial behaviour caused by the festival.

Licensing committee members will now rule on whether Live Nation breached the conditions set out when the council originally granted their licence.

Their decision will be made public within five working days.