Glastonbury festival's organiser Michael Eavis is facing prosecution for allegedly letting twice the permitted number of revellers into this year's event.
Police believe an estimated 100,000 fans jumped the fence or otherwise avoided paying, vastly swelling crowds and jeopardising public safety.
Mendip district council, which licenses the Somerset festival, voted at the end of a three-hour meeting on Thursday to recommend that the farmer be prosecuted for breaching his licence.
Superintendent John Buckley, who led the police operation at the festival, told the council that Mr Eavis had failed adequately to control
access to the site, failed to ensure the integrity of the perimeter fence and failed to provide adequate security.
"We view the issues we have raised as being extremely serious. This is not the first time that concerns have been expressed regarding the festival," said Mr Buckley.
"Regrettably, other large public events have suffered
tragedies, and the priority for all of us must be public safety."
Mr Eavis claimed to have been victimised following the deaths of nine people at the Roskilde rock festival in Denmark earlier this year.
"There has been Roskilde, Notting Hill and Hillsborough and they think we're going to be next," he said.
"It is rubbish. We didn't get
one person hurt as a result of crushing or overcrowding this year. This is the best organised festival in the world. I've put my heart, life, soul and body into it to make it work."
The farmer, who has been running the festival at his Pilton farm since 1972, recently unveiled a section of a new "super fence" aimed at deterring fence-jumpers.
However, Mr Buckley said he did not agree that the "super fence" would be an adequate deterrent to anyone wanting to get in without a ticket.
A final decision on prosecution will be taken by the council's chief executive.
It is now possible that an application for a licence to host next year's festival could be refused.
