MANCHESTER City ignored instructions and parked their huge bus in the wrong place leading to a 'crush' among supporters leaving the Kassam Stadium, a review has found.

Oxfordshire County Council, tasked with investigating the incident after the Carabao Cup tie in September, has published its independent report into what happened, blaming the actions of the Premier League champions and Oxford United's stewards.

The findings, published on the U's website yesterday, said the bus was moved without the authorisation of the match day safety officer and placed in a position 'not suitable' for allowing the crowd to freely exit the stadium.

It said: "It can be assumed in absence of other evidence and by the fact pre-match instructions were ignored that MCFC positioned their team coach to leave the ground via the shortest route to the team hotel at Sandford via the Hilton Hotel exit onto the Grenoble Road."

Oxford Mail:

City and England striker Raheem Sterling entering the Kassam before the game

Metal barriers placed around the coach, which were also installed without the safety officer's knowledge, worsened the situation as fans coming in both directions were funnelled into a small area.

Supporters have previously described panicked scenes with people falling over and others finding it difficult to breathe.

Several warned that they feared the situation 'could have been far worse' if fans hadn't been able to escape by climbing through hedges.

READ AGAIN: Fans describe 'frightening experience' as crowd funnelled in after the game

The review found that in the area affected, near the players' entrance, the 'walking crowd density' was between three and four people per square metre.

It said: "These levels, whilst not deemed dangerous, can prove uncomfortable to those that have not experienced such crowd density and are less mobile."

Once it had been parked in the wrong place, a decision was taken not to move the bus again because this may have proved more dangerous.

But no clear instructions were given to staff on how to manage the new, unplanned arrangements and the view of CCTV cameras was obscured by trees so those inside the stadium couldn't clearly see what was going on.

READ AGAIN: Investigation launched after 'incident' at Oxford United v Manchester City

Several recommendations have been made to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

This includes replacing CCTV, more training for staff, new parking arrangements for VIPs and crowd density monitoring.

Measures already introduced include away team coaches being permanently stewarded and forced to remain in its parking area until ready to leave the stadium.