Police move to halt rave
By thisisessex – Monday 22 May 2000
Copyright: thisisessex
Police were called to Rivenhall Airfield after receiving complaints from residents about a giant rave.
The bumper event – staged in a disused plane hangar – was attended by 500 party-goers and lasted until after 9am yesterday.
At this point police, who had been keeping tabs on events throughout the night, closed the rave following complaints from people living nearby.
It is the second time this year the airfield has been targeted as a dance venue. In March, a small-scale version of this weekend’s party was also held in the village.
Jo Smith, who owns nearby Allshots Farm, went to the hangar in the early hours to speak some of the ravers.
He said: “Last time you wouldn’t have even known they were here because they cleaned up after themselves. This time they didn’t do such a good job – probably because there were more people – and it’s obvious there’s been a rave.
“We’re not impressed because it looks pretty terrible. Some of the rubbish has been bagged up, but there’s still empty tins of beer everywhere.
“It’s a difficult situation for us because there’s so little we can do.”
Mr Smith added that revellers in up to 200 cars and vans converged on Rivenhall for the event, parking at the side of a lane running from his farm to the hangar.
A spokesman for Braintree police confirmed that between 300 and 500 people from across the country were at the rave.
He added: “We received various complaints in the early hours about noise from the rave, as did Braintree Council’s environmental health department.
“There were no problems in terms of anyone committing public order offences so we decided to monitor the situation, rather than close the rave.”
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