Met police to launch summer crackdown on illegal raves

30 June 2021, 15:00

Metropolitan Police will be cracking down on illegal raves over summer, the force has said.

The Met's public order command is preparing for the potential lifting of Covid-19 restrictions on 19 July, as well as the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Senior officers are concerned that raves could spark disorder and become dangerous, especially after there was a surge in violent crime in the capital when lockdown was lifted last year.

Metropolitan Police Commander Ade Adelekan said on Wednesday: "We will have a preventative response around unlicensed music events.

"We will be looking to make sure that we thwart those where they are likely to take place, because they have morphed away from being just anti-social and in fact they present a real safeguarding issue and a real threat around disorder."

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This comes after a 26-year-old was stabbed to death at an unlicensed music event on Saturday in south-east London.

Sussex Police discovered crowds of up to 2,000 at a rave in the South Downs in Steyning, West Sussex too.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jane Connors said: "Every single phase through the lockdown and lifting we have projected forward what might happen and made sure we're ready for that.

"Be that violence, which is our priority, or any of the public order issues. We are always scanning for that, key dates in the diary, to make sure that we are ready."