More than 200 revellers ignore police warnings to attend illegal rave in woods before officers storm in to close it down
- Revellers gathered in a wooded area near Eston, Teesside, on super Saturday
- Cleveland police scorned them for putting an unnecessary ‘burden’ on the NHS
- Officers told parents in the area to ‘check the whereabouts of their children’
Police broke up an illegal rave in a forest last night where more than 200 revellers had gathered to party on Super Saturday.
Officers cleared the crowds from a wooded area near Eston, Teesside, with the help of a police helicopter.
Cleveland Police scolded the revellers for heaping an unnecessary ‘burden’ on the NHS during the pandemic.
Superintendent Emily Harrison said: ‘This incident is unacceptable and we won’t tolerate illegal raves happening in Cleveland.
‘Raves like these pose potential safety concerns for those attending, they are illegal and attending such an event places an unnecessary burden on our NHS colleagues who have been working hard to try to keep us all safe during the ongoing pandemic.’
Officers cleared revellers (pictured) from a wooded area in Eston, near Teesside, last night
Officers also appealed to parents and guardians to check the ‘whereabouts of their children’
At 10pm last night, officers caught wind of the rave and took to Twitter to warn would-be rule-breakers ‘not to attend’ and ‘ask parents and guardians to check on the whereabouts of their children’.
A spokesman added: ‘Enquiries are ongoing and anyone found to be breaking the law will be dealt with appropriately.’
Police helicopters were also called in to help clear the woodland, reports the BBC.
Video from the night, that appears to have been posted on Snapchat, shows a swarm of youngsters yelling as they brandish beer cans and bottles.
In one scene, a reveller is seen falling to the ground. Cigarettes were also used at the event, footage shows.
At 10pm, they also told would-be law-breakers not to attend the late night rave
Officers also had to be scrambled to clear crowds of revellers from a bar in Hackney, London, as Brits downed pints on Super-Saturday.
Drinkers stood side by side, with scant regard for social distancing, as police swooped on the bar past 10.30pm.
They were seen herding drinkers away, as a police van also arrived on the scene.
Residents said they had made numerous calls to officers, and that bars were closed within ten minutes of their arrival. One greeted their arrival with: ‘Yay we can sleep!’
The Met police has been contacted for comment.
Officers also swooped on a bar in Hackney, London, last night after revellers stood side by side to down pints with apparent scant regard for social distancing measures
Police disbursed the crowd of Super-Saturday drinkers within ten minutes, residents said
Pictured above are officers heading to clear away revellers from the bar yesterday
A police van pictured on the scene as drinkers are moved on and sent home
The raves took place on Super-Saturday, the day the government further relaxed social distancing restrictions by lowering the two-metre rule to one metre and allowing pubs and restaurants to re-open.
Pictures from Manchester, Bristol, London and other major cities show thirsty partygoers thronging the streets to get their first pint from a pub in 104 days.
A 20-year-old man died, a woman was raped and three people were stabbed during two illegal ‘quarantine raves’ attended by 6,000 people in Manchester last month.