Welcome to the pleasure dome
By thisislancashire – Thursday 26 June 1997
Copyright: thisislancashire
POLICE officers in Morecambe will be bracing themselves for the resort’s first all night rave at the Dome this Friday. Coach loads of more than a 1,000 ravers are expected to descend on Morecambe in an event which will see people partying from 8pm until 6am. Insp Graham Richardson said he was extremely concerned about the event following the recent riot along Morecambe prom which left four police officers injured and led to the arrest of 14 drunken revellers. Despite strong objections from the police, the Dome was given a licence to hold two all nighters for a trial period back in May. Now, permission to hold a further six dawn raves depends on what happens this Friday.
A special meeting with licensee bosses at Lancaster City Council has already been organised to report back on the night’s events.
Gary Robinson, of ArdshokK which is organising the event, told the Citizen he was confident the night would run smoothly.
“We’re working with the authorities, there will be medics on the door and security checks in place to make sure there’s no trouble. If Friday goes well I don’t see why we should not be granted a license for the rest of the year.”
People from all the over the country are expected to take part in the hard-core rave because so few venues elsewhere in the country are granted all night licences.
“There’ll be people from Liverpool, Bradford, Leeds, Derbyshire and Milton Keynes. It is a good way of attracting young people to Morecambe. There are thousands of people who go to raves and if we aren’t given a licence to hold them then they will be pushed underground and become less safe. At the moment we have medics, stick to regulations and work with the local authorities.”
Police raised objections to dawn raves because of the demands on resources and potential drug problems.
Insp Richardson said: “I object to policing raves on the grounds that I do not have sufficient resources to deal with anything that might happen.”
