Despite reports of people urinating in gardens and being passed out in streets, organisers of the annual Army-Navy rugby match have said spectators at this year’s event were better behaved than usual.
Last week leader of Richmond Council Gareth Roberts blasted the event and said that even though "a spite of measures" were taken - such as an earlier kick off time - there was no improvement of people's behaviour.
RELATED: Twickenham woman tells story of working rugby match"Match attendees now see this event primarily as a drunken, al fresco fancy dress party with the rugby match itself being of secondary importance," he said.
"We are now seeking an urgent meeting with the RFU and organisers of the fixture to seek reassurances that in future local residents will not experience another day of drunken, loutish behaviour which brings the RFU and our armed services personnel into disrepute.
"If those assurances are not satisfactorily forthcoming it is time this fixture moved out of our borough.”
When contacted about these concerns, a spokesman for the RFU said they believed behaviour was better this year.
RELATED: Army-Navy match could be moved from Twickenham to avoid 'another day of drunken, loutish behaviour'“We took significant steps to improve this event including reduced licensing hours, earlier kick off and bar closures plus no games before the main match," the spokesman said.
"While there have been some complaints received, behaviour at this year’s match was better than previous years.
"We will have a full debrief of this event with the police and the council as we do every year and will look at every complaint individually.”
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