Drastically reduced capacities and alcohol restrictions at next year’s rugby sevens event have been announced by the RFU, following antisocial behaviour problems this year.

The event, held over the weekend of May 16-17 at Twickenham stadium, saw some of the tens of thousands rugby fans urinating in public, littering and causing a nuisance for residents.

But the RFU believe its new measures will allow next year’s tournament to pass off peacefully.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

Mess: Residents awoke to find their town strewn with litter

A review has led to the attendance being capped at 35,000 people each day, a decrease of 40 per cent over the whole weekend – last year, 75,000 attended the Saturday event alone.

Stadium bars will have restricted opening hours, while police will be able to disperse crowds in Twickenham town centre.

There will also be no fancy dress theme for next year’s event, as the RFU hopes to promote a “family-friendly rugby event”.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

Sixes and sevens: How the RTT reported the aftermath of the sevens back in May

In a letter to residents, an RFU spokesman said: “At the RFU, we take our relationship with the local community very seriously.

“We listened to all the feedback we received from local residents and believe this is the right direction for next year’s tournament.

“I would like to thank Richmond Council and the Metropolitan Police for their collaborative approach to agreeing the format of the event for next year and we will continue to work together to deliver a successful event for everyone.”

North Twickenham and St Margarets Councillor Alexander Ehmann said the announcement was a “triumph for common sense over profits”.

He said: “We made it very clear we were unhappy with how the sevens was handled last year.

“I approached the RFU about its marketing of the tournament and it seems they have moved away from fancy dress.

“I am pleased they have said it will be a family event as hopefully there will be fewer incidents and encourage broad swathes of people to come, rather than just people who use it as a hedonistic, drinking event.”

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

Review: The letter sent out to residents living near the stadium

In May’s event, Twickenham was left strewn with litter the following morning, while inebriated fans urinated and defecated in shop doorways and on the streets.

A man in his 20s also sustained “horrific injuries” after falling from a second-storey in the stadium and landing on concrete steps.

Last week, Twickenham MP Tania Mathias hit out at the RFU for “antagonising local residents” over its decision to erect CCTV cameras opposite homes without planning permission.

Next year's rugby sevens takes place over the weekend of May 21-22.

The RFU made the following pledges to residents in its letter:

Attendance

Attendance will be capped at 35,000 a day, a decrease of 40 per cent across the whole weekend. Over the weekend there will also be an additional 5,000 tickets available to the local community at an exclusive rate. Further information will be provided on this shortly.

Alcohol

On the Saturday, stadium bars will have restricted opening at 12pm until 3pm and 5pm. The closure time of the bars will be a collaborative decision for the RFU, Richmond Council and the Metropolitan Police. On the Sunday bars will be opened from 11am to 5pm with a similar review strategy in place with regard to closure.

Outside the stadium, the Metropolitan Police will have the option to use, if thought appropriate, a new ‘dispersal power’ to control drinking and, if necessary, enforce dispersal in agreed areas between the stadium and Twickenham town centre and within the town itself.

Theme

We will promote the event as a family-friendly rugby event across both days. There will be no fancy dress theme as there has been in previous years.

Mitigation

The RFU and Richmond Council will work together to deliver a comprehensive street cleaning and toilet plan which will allow the streets to be cleaned during and after each day, including overnight cleaning if appropriate.

Do the new measures solve the problem or would you like to see the RFU go even further to prevent a repeat of May's wreck and ruin? Email tom.ambrose@london.newsquest.co.uk with your thoughts.