Police bust latest rave in Limehouse within a mile of Poplar raid just 4 weeks before
Snapped! Police body cam captures raid on illegal rave in Limehouse. Picture: Met Police - Credit: MPS
Police have raided a second mass illegal rave in the East End within a mile of each other in less than a month that both breached Covid-19 emergency regulations.
Police discover strobe lighting and full DJ and sound systems rigged up and 50 revellers still in the building. Picture: Met Police - Credit: MPS
They busted the latest all-night rave being held in the basement of an empty building in Pixley Street off Burdett Road, next to the Limehouse Cut, in a dawn raid on Sunday, November 22.
It follows the Saturday night rave broken up in Poplar on October 31 near the Blackwall Tunnel, where 1,000 revellers were packed in.
Officers in the latest bust on Sunday entered the building around 7.30am and could hear from the foyer the deafening music coming from the basement.
They made their way down the staircase into the darkened basement to find strobe lights and a full DJ and sound system rigged up. Between 40 and 50 people were still there, drinking and dancing.
Dawn raid in Limehouse on unlicensed rave staged in empty building in Pixley Street. Picture: Google - Credit: Google
“This was such a shocking and blatant attempt to breach the emergency regulations,” Chief Insp Pete Shaw said. “We are living in a health crisis and Tower Hamlets has some of the highest infection rates in London.
“The behaviour by those who organised or attended this rave was downright unacceptable and risked spreading the virus.”
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Officers found the organiser and “took enforcement action”. The man is now facing a possible £10,000 fine under the Coronavirus regulations.
The chief inspector warned: “We’ll continue taking tough action against those who selfishly don’t consider the impact of their actions, blindly taking risks and ignoring the rules which the majority of Londoners have followed.”
The earlier raid on October 31 near the Blackwall Tunnel led to seven arrests in custody under the coronavirus regulations and each facing £10,000 fixed penalty fines. A large amount of equipment and sound systems were seized.
It was one of 11 raids across London on unlicensed events that night, including buildings at Rothbury Road in Hackney Wick, where 200 people were dispersed and equipment seized, and at Marshgate Lane in Stratford.
Police fired their first warning shot after the raids when Met Commander Ade Adelekan said: “We are still in a pandemic and it’s extremely selfish of a minority to carry on without regard for the regulations.”
Scotland Yard has been responding to tip-offs from the public about “unacceptable loud noise” through the night disturbing whole neighbourhoods.
But the organiser of the latest rave in Limehouse raided on Sunday didn’t heed the warning and has been “handed a large fine”.
