All-night raves have returned to shatter the calm of the Sussex countryside.
Hundreds of people have begun descending on Brighton and Hove at weekends for deafening outdoor parties.
Residents say they are being kept awake by the sound of the dance music in their usually quiet suburbs.
They fear their summer could be ruined by weeks of open-air partying close to their homes.
Now police and council officials are planning to crush the cars of revellers and block routes using boulders to prevent party-goers getting to their venue.
The events are usually held in isolated rural areas but a series of parties in Stanmer Park, Brighton, has led to constant noise in the suburbs.
Some have involved as many as 200 revellers, who arrive from as far away as Southampton.
Glenys Harris, who works at the Beatty Avenue Post Office in Coldean, said: “It was still going on when I came to work at 5.40am on Sunday and must have stopped about 8am.
“All the customers have been moaning about it.
“No one knew where the noise was coming from but it certainly upset a lot of people.”
Elaine Mepham-Foster, 48, of Selham Close, Coldean, said: “I was outraged.
“It’s been going on for the past couple of weekends but Saturday was the final nail in the coffin.
“I haven’t slept at all while they have been going on and I know my neighbours, who have young families, have suffered as well.”
Pat Berry, of the Coldean Residents’ Association, said: “We have had so many complaints from people around the estate.
“It’s a very unpleasent thing to happen on your doorstep, especially when sleep is being disrupted.”
Ward Councillor Pat Hawkes, chairman of the Stanmer and Coldean local action team, said: “It’s not just people in Coldean.
“Residents in Stanmer Village and Hollingbury were undoubtedly affected.
“I dread that this sort of thing will keep on happening throughout the summer.
“It’s unfair that a large number of residents should be affected and it’s something that we must sort out.”
Rave gatherings hit the peak of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when thousands of people gathered to dance at illegal events.
Huge sound systems are used to play bass-heavy psychedelic music with a hypnotic beat.
The popularity of the events has traditionally stemmed from the use of the class A drug Ecstasy, and raves became so popular in the early 1990s that controversial laws were passed to enable police to break them up.
Changing times and locations make it difficult for police to stop raves happening and the number of people involved makes it hard for officers to shut them down while they are in progress.
Inspector Bill Whitehead, of Sussex Police, said: “I’d like to reassure people we are doing what we can to minimise the effects of raves.
“If you are a person who goes to these parties, give a thought to people living nearby.
“Think about finishing at a reasonable hour to allow other people a life and enjoyment of their weekend as well.”
He said the force plans to slap vehicles used at the scene of raves with formal warnings if they are not on a road and are causing alarm or distress.
Under the Police Reform Act, if the vehicle is seen there again, officers can remove and scrap it.
They can also use powers under the Antisocial Behaviour Act to stop people preparing to hold raves or who are on their way to one.
Work is under way to secure entrances to Stanmer Park at night to hinder the progress of vans needed to transport heavy speaker equipment.
Bollards and boulders are being considered for footpaths to stop vehicles but allow walkers and cyclists through.
Raves, or free parties, are still common in parts of the countryside and derelict buildings but are held on a much smaller scale than in their heyday.
Recently, they have been held at Black Rock, Brighton, and in derelict buildings, including the former Sainsbury’s in London Road before it reopened as Aldi.
