Police prevented 1,000 people from attending a rave in South Gloucestershire at the weekend.

An event was about to take place in an industrial unit in Warmley when police arrived.

Approximately 1,000 people were stopped from entering the building, while a vehicle and sound equipment were seized.

It was one of a number of unlicensed music events and large gatherings disrupted by Avon and Somerset Police at the weekend.

Superintendent Mark Edgington said: “We worked tirelessly during the past week and throughout the weekend with our local authority partners and local businesses to ensure people were able to enjoy their first night out in months safely.

“The vast majority of people behaved responsibly and we’d like to thank them for ensuring the re-opening of the night-time economy did not lead to any significant incidents.

“As part of the proactive policing operation we had in place officers engaged with anyone involved in a gathering to remind them of their responsibility to control the spread of COVID-19.

“Most people officers spoke to were very respectful and brought an end to their activities or decided against going ahead with them and they deserve credit for complying with our requests.

“In one instance, when it was suspected a rave was about to take place, officers did have to seize equipment to prevent it from happening. I’d like to thank the member of public who called us about this incident – without their call the incident could have led to significant disruption to the local community and to multiple arrests.”

Other incidents included:

  • A gathering on Grosvenor Road and on Grosvenor Green in St Paul’s to mark what would have been St Paul’s Carnival. Members of the community were encouraging social distancing but when officers became concerned the crowd was becoming too large they asked for the sound system to be switched off which the organisers did instantly.
  • A report of loud music and a gathering of people on Brook Road in the Montpelier area of Bristol. Officers spoke with the occupants of a house who agreed to turn the music off. Police were called back to the same street a few hours later to reports of approximately 50 people standing in the street, shouting and playing music. The group were dispersed from the area within 10 minutes.
  • An unlicensed music event in Mina Road Park in St Paul’s, Bristol on Sunday attended by around 50 people. Officers negotiated with organisers who agreed to end the event at 6pm.

Supt Edgington added: “It is thanks to the fantastic relationships our officers have with our communities which enables us to police by consent.

“The ongoing public health crisis undoubtedly continues to frustrate many people but we’re extremely grateful for the support shown to us this weekend – it greatly helped us minimise disruption and keep people safe.”