This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-53041356
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| 'More than 500 people' attend illegal rave near Lichfield | 'More than 500 people' attend illegal rave near Lichfield |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A police officer was assaulted as more than 500 revellers attended an illegal rave, Staffordshire Police said. | A police officer was assaulted as more than 500 revellers attended an illegal rave, Staffordshire Police said. |
| An arrest was made for the alleged assault and for drug-driving, as police tried to disperse crowds in Fradley near Lichfield on Saturday night. | An arrest was made for the alleged assault and for drug-driving, as police tried to disperse crowds in Fradley near Lichfield on Saturday night. |
| Traffic on the nearby A38 was slowed down and British Transport Police (BTP) officers were called out as the event was closed down. | Traffic on the nearby A38 was slowed down and British Transport Police (BTP) officers were called out as the event was closed down. |
| There is also anger at the amount of mess that was left behind. | |
| Pictures show the floor of Brookhay Woods strewn with cans, bottles, nitrous oxide (laughing gas) canisters, and balloons. | |
| 'Litter for a mile' | |
| One local, who lives close to Brookhay Woods, where the rave was held, said she had never seen a mess like it in her life. | |
| "It was a carpet of bottles, cartridges, cans, bottles filled with various coloured liquids, bags, clothes.... the biggest concentration was by and in the stream in the woods but there is litter for a mile or so radius," she said. | |
| She added a friend of hers had been kept awake all night by the commotion and that a young man they came across picking up his car had shown no remorse for the mess or the disturbance to residents. | |
| Cars left abandoned at the site are now being removed. | Cars left abandoned at the site are now being removed. |
| "An estimated 500-plus people attended who have shown a complete disregard for public safety and the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions," police said. | "An estimated 500-plus people attended who have shown a complete disregard for public safety and the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions," police said. |
| Officers were still turning people away who were arriving as they closed the event down. | Officers were still turning people away who were arriving as they closed the event down. |
| The abandoned cars, in Brookhay Lane, are causing an obstruction, police said. | The abandoned cars, in Brookhay Lane, are causing an obstruction, police said. |
| The traffic on the A38 was slowed as a precaution, police said, and BTP officers were called out because there is a railway line nearby. | The traffic on the A38 was slowed as a precaution, police said, and BTP officers were called out because there is a railway line nearby. |
| Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk | Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk |