When Avon and Somerset police received complaints about a loud, all-night rave taking place on the outskirts of Frome in England last weekend, they probably would’ve probably expected to complete the job in a few hours at the most.
At 1:30am police received complaints and promptly arrived on the scene, however what happened next was quite unexpected. It took the boys in blue until 9:30am before they were able to gather the necessary “resources” to shut down the party, eight hours after they first received complaints.
In a statement, the Avon and Somerset Constabulary said that safety concerns meant that they had no choice but to wait until the rave had simmered to a controllable level.
“Unlicensed music events pose a serious risk to public safety and our primary focus had to be on bringing the event to a safe and controlled conclusion,” said a Facebook post. “There were a large number of people in attendance and we needed to have the right number of resources in place to make sure they could leave without putting themselves or others at risk.”
Residents have taken to the post to voice their dissatisfaction at the way the incident was handled, clearly unhappy at the effectiveness and pace at which action was taken.
“We’d like to apologise for the disruption caused and would also like to thank those affected for their patience while we dealt with this incident,” reads the post. “We’ll also be liaising directly with residents to explain our response and the complexities of dealing with events of this nature.”
