Four people were arrested and some people were hurt at a huge illegal New Year’s rave at an empty warehouse in Keynsham.
At just after midnight today police received calls from members of the public to reports of an unlicensed music event taking place at the premises in Unity Road.
When the first officers attended, the illegal rave was under way and it is understood there were more than 1,000 people there.
Police say they identified the organisers and halted the event. Four people were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to cause a public nuisance and sound equipment was seized.
Supt Cath Johnstone said: “Unlicensed music events pose a serious risk to public safety and our primary focus has to be on bringing the event to a safe and controlled conclusion.
“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.
“We’re aware there has been significant disruption to local residents and I’d like to assure people we were using all available powers to close it down safely.
“A small number of people received minor injuries due to the nature of the unstructured event and we worked with our colleagues in the ambulance service to ensure they received treatment.
“We’ll be carrying out an investigation to establish the full circumstances and to ensure all criminal offences are pursued and we’ll be liaising directly with residents to explain our response and the complexities of dealing with events of this nature.”
A 41 year-old Bristol man, a 28-year-old Bridgend man, and a 27-year-old man and 17-year-old boy from Hampshire have been released on bail until early March.
