Fury at all-night rave in woods
http://www.leedstoday.net/
FURIOUS residents are calling for police action following an all-night rave at a Leeds beauty spot.
Hundreds of revellers converged on Adel Woods in the north west of the city for the party, which started at about 10pm on Saturday.
Residents say ear-splitting dance music blared out until 7.30am the next day, despite calls to the police and Leeds City Council’s environmental health department.
They accused the authorities of abandoning them by failing to call an early halt to the rave, the second to be held in Adel Woods in two months.
Clive Harris, a 66-year-old retired engineer, of East Causeway Crescent, Adel, said: “I live about half a mile as the crow flies from where it all took place and the noise was horrendous.
“How something like this can be allowed to go on right through the night is just beyond me and if the people behind it think they can get off scot free, then I fear it will keep happening.”
Under the terms of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, police forces now have the power to break up a crowd of 20 people or more in open or indoor areas.
Anyone who is moved on also faces arrest if they try to start up
another gathering within 24 hours.
Previously, officers could only take action if a crowd numbered 100 people or more.
Coun Les Carter (Con, Adel and Wharfedale) said he understood that the police had decided to adopt a “softly softly” approach at the weekend after carrying out a risk assessment.
He said he had been told officers decided not to move in and disperse the ravers because of the size of the crowd and the awkward woodland terrain.
Coun Carter said: “If that was the only safe course of action – and the police were the ones on the scene – then we must assume it was the right one.
“However, I trust every effort is now being made to trace the ringleaders and, if possible, prosecute them.
“I will also be pressing the police for a full explanation of everything they did and didn’t do on Saturday night.”
A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed today that officers had held off from breaking up the rave because of “health and safety considerations”.
She said they had been called to the scene just after 1am but had decided to wait until first light to talk to the organisers.
The spokeswoman said that the ravers had left without any trouble after police finally spoke to them at dawn.
She also said no arrests had been made.
No details were available today on the identity of the organisers of the event.
A city council spokeswoman said environmental health officers had responded to several calls from the public on Saturday evening about the rave.
She said that, because of the nature of the gathering, the officers decided the matter would be best dealt with as a public order disturbance and passed it on to the police.
11 August 2004
