More than 500 illegal raves in London in last month, police say

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

More than 500 illegal raves have been organised across London in the past month, police said as they released body-camera footage of an intervention at a street party that left 22 officers injured.

The video, recorded at an illegal event in Brixton on 25 June, shows officers being struck by bottles and other flying objects, while voices can be heard shouting “hold the line” and “missiles, missiles”.

The Metropolitan Police said information about more than 530 events across the capital has been received since the Brixton rave, with police responding to 23 a day.

There were 86 separate incidents reported last Saturday alone, including an illegal street party in Finsbury Park, which also resulted in officers being injured by flying objects as they tried to disperse crowds.

Scotland Yard said it will continue to clamp down on “dangerous” unlicensed events to tackle the surge in street parties since the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, but fears further disorder this weekend.

Commander Ade Adelekan warned there is a “very real risk” of violence.

He added: “During previous events a small minority have targeted police officers with extreme violence, resulting in police officers being injured.

“We also have to remember that the country remains in a national health crisis.

“It is vitally important we all play our part in avoiding mass gatherings to help protect ourselves, family and friends.”

Commander Adelekan also said the fear illegal raves creates for communities is “totally unacceptable”, as the Met released 999 calls from residents reporting mass gatherings.

One man can be heard saying: “Hi, there’s an illegal rave outside. There’s hundreds of them and they’re very noisy, very crowdy and there’s more coming.”

Another man says partygoers have “blockaded the road”, while a woman complains they are “shouting, making too much noise, bottles everywhere”.

One caller says: “It’s just scary, you just don’t know what to do.”

Police across the country have faced a surge in illegal raves since the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were relaxed.

Avon and Somerset Police said they were powerless to stop a 3,000-strong illegal event at the former RAF Charmy Down airfield near Bath last weekend, while Greater Manchester Police said it had dismantled a planned illegal rave on Saturday.

Additional reporting by Press Association