Avon and Somerset Police have arrested four people and seized music equipment following an unlicensed music event in Keynsham in the early hours of this morning.
At just after midnight this morning (1st January 2016), police received calls from members of the public to reports of a music event taking place at a warehouse in Keynsham.
When the first officers attended, a large number of people were already in an empty warehouse off Unity Road and the illegal rave was under way.
Officers were able to identify the organisers and the event has now finished. 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.”
