Revellers flee from cops at lakeside rave:
‘WELL OVER 100’ PARTY-GOERS SPARK FURY
POLICE were called to an illegal night-time rave around a dangerously deep lake in a small Nottinghamshire village.
Revellers decided to pitch up in Gonalston for their party at around 6pm on Saturday, with a nearby business owner hearing “thumping music” and “girls squealing”.
Around 20 people are believed to have been there – but at one point, the business owner claimed it was “well over 100”.
Police arrived at the site in Gonalston Lane, near to the level crossing, with some party-goers attempting to escape.
Im the chaos, one driver even crashed his vehicle into a police car.
Five fixed penalty notices of £200 each were handed out for those breaching Covid-19 guidelines.
It is illegal for different households to meet indoors or in gardens as part of the current national lockdown restrictions.
Ian Harley, who runs a 30-acre specimen carp fishery called Trent View Carp next to the rave site, said it’s become a popular place for young people to party.
He said “We just heard a lot of thumping music, a lot of talking and girls squealing.
“You get a lot of cars parking on each side of the road during the summer. It causes problems for farmers to get through on their tractors.
“It is not just at night but also during the day. There have been at least 50 to 60 cars down the lay-bys and some of them park in the village.
“But there has been nothing like it while it is cold.
“It was a cold night – what were they doing partying? It is in the middle of nowhere and that might be the reason.
“Some people heard a crash while on the lake and saw the police presence. I think closing the lay-bys would stop people parking there.”
Neighbour John Clarke, in his 70s, said sometimes there can be gatherings of up to 50 cars there.
He said: “In the summer time there were day and night parties there. It was when the first lockdown was on.
“They hover around the river, have parties around the pond and go swimming. We never heard anything on Saturday night and we were in.”
Another John Clarke, 72, who also lives in the area, said: “In summer time, it is packed solid there. The sad thing is they leave all their rubbish behind.
“If a fire engine had to get down they would struggle because they park on both sides of the road. It is mainly young people.
“I could understand in the summer but not (a party) in this weather.”
Conservative councillor Roger Jackson, who represents the area for Newark and Sherwood District Council, said he was well aware of the problems.
“It has become a go-to place on social media,” he said. “The worry in the summer was they were swimming in the lakes, which are deep and cold.
“In the dark it is dangerous. They are very deep lakes and people need to act responsibly because lives could be put in danger if they fell in at night and had a drink.
“It could be catastrophic and unfortunate. How do we stop it? It is open countryside – you have to appeal to people’s common sense.”
Police attended at around 9pm to reports of “a rave” with people in their late teens playing loud music.
The report was 20 people, but when they arrived there were around 10 people present.
A driver reversed into a police car and fled the scene.
Detective Superintendent Andrew Gowan said: “The very last thing we want to be doing as police officers is to be punishing people for gathering together and having fun.
“However, the current national restrictions are in place to protect the wider public from harm and we will keep enforcing them for as long as we need to.”
People need to act responsibly because lives could be put in danger.
Councillor Roger Jackson