Police busted an illegal rave in the West Country on Easter Sunday (April 17) attended by an estimated 1,000 people. Ravers who converged in East Lulworth were dispersed by officers.
Though roads were cordoned off and people were told to leave by 1pm the party was still in full swing. Dorset Police issued a plea to revellers not to cross military training land in a bid to get to the scene, Dorset Live reports.
Police later confirmed people had left the area. The force issued a statement last night saying: "The incident was first reported to police at 12.36am on Sunday.
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"Throughout the night and day police supported by partner agencies including the MOD, Dorset Council, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue and other public services worked hard to deal with the risks and impacts on the local community and bring the event to a safe conclusion."
Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya said: “Throughout the incident we worked in partnership with other public sector and military agencies to achieve the positive resolution. Police officers entered the site and directed people to leave the scene of the unlawful gathering using powers under the Public Order Act.
"Due to the large scale of the event and the inherent impact of dispersing such high numbers of people, this process took some time. In our operations, we always have to balance enforcement activities with the safety of our officers and all those involved.
"Making sure that a site is cleared without any escalation or moving the risk to our road network is always a difficult process. The unauthorised event started to disperse during the afternoon.
"However, we will continue to monitor the situation and will have a presence in the area. I would like to thank our local community for their patience while we took positive action to deal with this incident. We are very grateful for the support our officers have been given.”
A post about the event on Dorset Police’s Facebook page received more than 1,000 comments on Easter Sunday – mostly telling the force not to ruin the party and comparing it to lockdown rule-breaking by politicians. One Facebook user commented: “Well, from what I’ve heard they were only there for less than 10 minutes, and it’s a business meeting. Boris can do what he wants, so they can too. Why not try and find some real criminal behaviour?”
Another said: “They’re just having a bit of cake for 10 minutes to polish off the cheese and wine! When the people that govern our country don’t even follow the rules how can you expect a few peaceful, happy, music loving ravers to do so.”
Party-goers told DorsetLive the rave was "mint" and "really great" - but neighbours were not so impressed. Revellers attended from the West Country as well as further afield including from London, Wales and the Midlands.
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