Locals fear that illegal raves could become regular
by I. Lloyd
Copyright: I. Lloyd
Residents fear illegal raves in the borough could become monthly events unless police and council officers stamp them out.
More than 4,000 people descended on the Big Yellow Self Storage site at Staple Corner over the weekend for a rave which lasted more than 23 hours.
It is the second rave in Barnet this year after around 300 people used the former Frank Usher factory, which is off Edgware Road, West Hendon, for a party in January.
On that occasion, Barnet Council and police both blamed each other for failing to stop the music, which went on for 18 hours.
Judy Shepherd, of Montagu Road, was kept awake by both events. “I do wonder if it is the same people organising it they may be targeting the area. Maybe it is going to become a monthly event,” she said.
The music started at midnight on Saturday and continued until around 11.30pm the following day. Police believe the rave took four days to organise.
“It is something the police and the council need to get a stranglehold of before it gets out of hand,” added Mrs Shepherd.
Steve Presland, head of environmental and neighbourhood management services at Barnet Council, said environmental health officers visited homes in the area with counterparts from Brent but the noise was not loud enough for them to take formal action.
The council has power to confiscate equipment if noise levels are high enough and organisers refuse to stop, he added.
The council can also take out an injunction to prohibit events if it knows of them in advance and feels they will cause a noise nuisance.
