The mayor of a small Dutch town has banned urban music from the annual end-of-summer festival on safety grounds.

Reinie Melisssant, the mayor of Gorinchem, says the party is primarily for locals and urban music attracts the wrong sort of people. ‘There is a safety profile,’ she told local broadcaster Radio Rijnmond. ‘One type of music is more of a safety issue than another… with urban music there is a risk of trouble.’

The mayor referred to last year’s performance by Rotterdam rap group Broederliefde, which was accompanied by rioting and arrests as thousands of people turned up to hear the band. ‘Gorinchem is a nice town and we want to keep it nice,’ she said.

Gorinchem is located on the Merwede river east of Rotterdam and has a population of some 36,000. The town dates back over 800 years.

The Gorinchem summer party takes place this weekend and includes ‘safe’ acts such as Gebroeders Ko, who sing carnival songs and Kees van Hondt who describes his performances as ‘masterpieces of nonsense for intelligent simpletons’, website Nu.nl said.