The O2 Academy Brixton faces indefinite closure after the Metropolitan Police urged Lambeth council to strip it of its licence in response to a crowd crush that left two people dead.

Gaby Hutchinson, 23, a security guard, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, were killed, and a third person critically injured when fans without tickets tried to enter the venue for a show by Nigerian artist Asake on December 15.

In January Lambeth councillors stripped O2 Academy Brixton of its licence for three months, pending a decision on whether to reopen the site to be taken at a later date.

However in a new submission to the council this month, the Met Police said it had "lost confidence" in the venue's owner, Academy Music Group (AMG) and pushed for its licence to be permanently revoked.

Around 1,000 people were outside the venue when police arrived they found "large-scale disorder" with crowds eventually pushing the doors open, according to Gerald Gouriet KC, who represented the Met Police at the licensing meeting.

File on 4, a BBC Radio 4 investigative show, reported that a security guard at the venue had alleged some of the security staff would allow "a couple of hundred" people into the venue in exchange for money.

"There were people taking money. Some staff made £1,000 cash," the guard told the BBC programme. "Our company knew what was going on and they knew the people who were doing it," he added, "and they did nothing about it."

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: "In January, the sub-committee imposed a condition requiring the venue to cease all licensable activities pending it submitting a variation application – and the council granting that application.

"The operators of the O2 Academy Brixton were required at that last meeting to come up with workable changes to their licence in a way that fully addresses police concerns about the venue's operations, and ensure no repeat of the tragic events of December 15, via that variation application.

"The variation application has been made, and will be considered at a licensing sub-committee on a date that will be confirmed shortly. The O2 Academy Brixton will not be able to carry out any licensable activities until after that meeting at the earliest.

"On April 14, an application to review the O2 Academy Brixton's licence was submitted by the Met Police. That application is now subject to a statutory consultation period.

"As a result, there are currently there are two outstanding applications in relation to the venue, the licence variation and the licence review. Lambeth Council will consider both in due course."