As many as 18,000 people packed the streets around Western University on Saturday for homecoming celebrations, police estimate.

The crowd turned Boughdale Avenue, a dead-end street that is traditionally the epicentre of unofficial homecoming celebrations, into a sea of purple by the early afternoon.

The number of people partying in the streets and at houses in the campus area surged by thousands more after the Western Mustangs football team beat the McMaster Marauders at Alumni Stadium, where a crowd of 12,000 was expected.

Police estimated the crowd peaked at between 15,000 to 18,000 in the late afternoon.

Police closed Broughdale Avenue to vehicles and erected metal barriers down the centre to keep revellers on the sidewalks. Nearby Audrey Avenue was also closed for paramedics to s

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