UK Illegal Rave Shut Down By Police After Almost One Day

A huge rave that took place in Dorset yesterday (Sunday 17 April) had to be shut down by police, who said the sheer number of people involved meant it took ‘some time’ to disperse the crowd – almost an entire day, in fact. 

The ‘unauthorised gathering’ took place near the village of East Lulworth, where about 1,000 people were thought to have come together. 

The incident was first reported to the police just after midnight on Sunday morning, with an update at 1.25pm the next day posted on Dorset Police’s social media pages. 

It wasn’t until 9.21pm that night that the force confirmed the rave had been ‘dispersed’. 

A statement from Dorset Police said: “An unauthorised gathering of people in the East Lulworth area has been dispersed. 

“The incident was first reported to police at 12.36am on Sunday 17 April 2022. It was believed that about 1,000 people were attending the event with a large number of vehicles seen travelling through the area. 

“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.” 

According to The Telegraph, the rave was held near Bovington military base on land belonging to the Ministry of Defence. 

The force cordoned off roads and carried out vehicle checks on site and in the surrounding area, while also obtaining footage from body cameras, drones and police helicopters. 

Many people commented on Facebook to discuss what had happened, with some arguing that the rave should have been allowed to continue – with one writing: “Let these people have their fun.” 

Another agreed: “Enough already, let them enjoy their life.” 

Others criticised the partygoers, with one person writing: “To those ignoramuses suggesting this should be left to run - ordinary local people have had their sleep disturbed by a selfish bunch of people.

"The site will be trashed as they always are, and there is no justification for this whatsoever.

"It's not being spoilsports. It's not cool, its unnecessary and unwarranted aggravation for people in the area and somebody has to pickup the cost for policing.” 

Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya said the ‘unlawful’ rave started to disperse in the afternoon, but that the process took a while due to the ‘large scale’. 

She 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 number 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.”