Crackdown on illegal raves over bank holiday weekend

Police have clamped down on illegal raves taking place across England over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Essex Police said around 100 people attended an unlicensed music event on land off Buckingham Hill Road in the town of Stanford-le-Hope on Saturday night.

The force seized music equipment from the event and is now working to identify those who fled the area as officers arrived in order to issue fines for a breach of Covid-19 regulations.

Meanwhile, West Mercia Police said arrests had been made following reports of a large gathering in the village of Dorstone, Herefordshire, at around 1am on Sunday.

Despite many people leaving the site when asked to by officers, the force said a Section 63 dispersal order had to be issued to fully clear the area.

A “number” of arrests were made for driving offences, police said.

Superintendent Edd Williams said: “We received several reports from concerned members of the public regarding the number of people gathered in Dorstone, as well as loud noise.

“Our first step is always to engage with the community and that was our initial response in this case and a number of the attendees were compliant, however it became necessary to issue the Section 63 order in order to disperse the remaining members of the public.

“I am pleased to say that we were able to clear the area in a calm and peaceful way.”

The force said it received information that an event was being planned that evening and officers encountered large groups of people in the area.

Police stopped the event from being set up and seized music equipment, before moving people on from the site.

Superintendent Simon Thompson, from Kent Police, said: “We appreciate that lockdown has been tough for everyone and over the long bank holiday weekend people may be tempted to attend these events but I must be clear that Kent is not open for unlicensed music events.

“As our officers have shown, we will move people on who come to Kent for this reason, seek to prosecute the organisers and seize equipment that they may bring with them.

“We want people to have fun and enjoy themselves but not at the expense of others in the community.”