Police admit defeat as 4,000 ravers descend on village
06:00am 30th May 2006
Residents vented their fury last night after 4,000 revellers invaded a moorland beauty spot for an illegal three-day rave when police were overwhelmed.
Police were alerted as hordes of travellers arrived in ramshackle converted buses and old ambulances to a disused Second World War airfield.
But the two beat bobbies sent to challenge them fled when they were confronted by the huge number of revellers.
A riot squad was later called, but when they arrived an estimated 4,000 partygoers had barged in, setting up huge marquees, stages, sound systems and perimeter fences to keep out officers.
Unable to gain access to the site, police admitted yesterday that they had been taken off guard and they didn’t have the resources to disperse the illegal party at Davidstow Common, near Wadebridge, Cornwall.
Instead, scores of officers were stationed on surrounding roads to deter further travellers from joining in, although many party goers simply abandoned their cars and ran on foot onto the site.
Last night furious residents complained that the police merely stood by whilst the site was occupied on Saturday and large quantities of drugs and alcohol were smuggled in.
Farmers also claimed that the thumping dance music, which could be heard up to 13 miles away, terrified livestock and party goers had seriously damaged moorland, leaving trails of rubbish in their wake.
Julie Dowton from the David Stowe Commoners Association, said: “This is a nightmare. Nobody in the area has been able to sleep since it started.
“The noise and music was so loud it could be heard from miles away, and everyone is worried for the safety of their homes and livestock.
“There are young lambs and pregnant horses grazing out there and these people have let their dogs run free to chase and worry them. It is a nightmare for everybody concerned.”
Mobilised by notices posted on websites and text messages sent by the organisers, revellers descended onto the designated area of outstanding natural beauty, from all over Britain and Europe on Saturday.
With no running water or toilet facilities on the 3,000 acre site which is home to around 9,500 sheep, villagers fear it will be left in a disgusting state when partygoers finally leave today (tues).
One resident, Dan Smith said: “There are cans littered everywhere and people were just laying about drinking spirits straight from the bottle.
“When they finally all go there is going to be one hell of a mess to clear up. It is disgusting, they have let their dogs foul everywhere.
“The people there just care about having fun, they don’t seem at all bothered that they are wrecking a very beautiful piece of countryside.”
Under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, police have the power to disperse illegal gatherings and uniformed officers can turn back those believed to be on their way to a rave within a five-mile radius of the site.
But spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police, PC Terry Hodgson said that they were overwhelmed by the numbers.
Yesterday no arrests had been made, although officers had seized some sound equipment.
He said: “To be blunt, we have been caught out by this. Questions are being asked about how thousands of people managed to get to that site unnoticed.
“There was a festival nearby in Newquay and the traffic was thought to be going there.
“It takes a huge amount of officers to disperse a crowd like that and that’s why we decided on a containment policy rather than a dispersal policy.”
