Fury over lack of police for 'rave'

Mark Lord

RESIDENTS in a Suffolk village who called police to an alleged rave were astounded to be told that only one officer was available to deal with their concerns.

People living close to Haw Wood in Darsham, near Saxmundham, told the EADT they telephoned police repeatedly on Sunday morning claiming they were kept awake by loud music and anti-social behaviour until well after 5am.

Villagers were shocked to be told that only one officer would be able to attend as there were no others available.

Steve Sowards, who lives near to Haw Wood, said: “The policeman who finally attended told my neighbour that he was the only officer in the area on a Saturday night and to us that just does not seem right.

“Surely Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest for police and more officers should be available? Things here were out of control and police should have clamped down on what was happening.”

He said the party only began to quieten down at about 5am - too late for everyone living in the area who had had a sleepless night.

Anne-Marie Breach, a spokeswoman for Suffolk police, said officers were called at about 2am on Sunday, August 31, to a party of about 100 people at Haw Wood near to High Lodge in Darsham.

“Officers established fairly quickly that this was a private party and not a rave,” she said. “They advised the organisers to turn down the music which they did but it is assumed it was turned up once police had left. As this was a private party we do not have powers to intervene.

“The party went on until about 7am in the morning and during this time we received several calls from the public about it.”

Responding to the concerns raised by residents about policing levels she added: “We obviously have to prioritise how we work and will always respond to incidents. If necessary we can call upon other resources and throw these at incidents if needed.”

This is the second time that Suffolk police has been criticised in the past few months by residents living in north Suffolk.

Last month people living in Halesworth raised concerns about policing after it emerged that only two officers are usually on duty throughout their sector during the early hours of most mornings.