Police halt party at house crammed with 150 people

POLICE broke up an illegal house party held at an Airbnb property after more than 150 people turned up.

Officers were called to a smart terrace of Georgian houses in the Archway area of London, where properties sell for in excess of £1.5million.

Meanwhile, in the Forest of Dean, Glos, hundreds of people arrived in a remote area for a planned all-night rave, before police broke up the event by removing sound equipment and dispersing the crowds.

At the house in London, scores of guests began arriving on Saturday evening and loud music could be heard across the neighbourhood.

As pubs closed, more people turned up and at one point it was estimated that more than 150 were crammed into the terraced house. Footage posted online showed dozens of people, who were not wearing masks, in the garden.

The event, described by one neighbour as an “illegal rave”, led to police issuing a closure order, which prevented people from going back inside.

“The people who came had no respect for the neighbours … nor any respect [for] quarantine or social distancing rules,” a neighbour who filmed the party wrote on Youtube.

He said the property had been let out on Airbnb and guests “took advantage by holding a gigantic party”.

More than 50 officers helped break up the event in Tavistock Terrace when they were called shortly before midnight. No arrests were made, a Met Police spokesman said.

Ch Supt Roy Smith wrote on Twitter: “Packed groups of 150+ people risking the spread of Covid-19 and keeping poor families with young children awake at 3am. Incredibly patient & tolerant police officers.”

A number of other unlicensed music events took place around the country.

Simon Kempton, the Police Federation lead for operational policing, said: “It’s like any other large incident in that it takes a large number of officers to safely police.

“We’ve seen the consequences of spikes in infection by way of local lockdowns and there’s a real threat that this could lead to more of those.”