The essential journalist news source
Back
8.
May
2019.
The Bank Holiday fun that costs other people hundreds of thousands

A picture containing clipartDescription automatically generated

 

 

 

 

 

8 May 2019  London, UK

The Bank Holiday and Summer fun that costs other people hundreds of thousands of pounds

As the illegal rave season begins, reports highlight the hidden costs of their aftermath

Bank Holidays & Summer see a rise in a host of activities from picking strawberries to building sandcastles - but for farmers, landowners & property managers with rural sites or large, urban, vacant properties, it is also the start of the season for illegal raves.

The property protection specialists, VPS Security Services, report that unlicensed music events have steadily been increasing, with a rise last year of 9%, and recent news from the Bank Holiday and Easter weekends cited several examples to illustrate that trend:

  • 1500 people attending an all-night rave on Dorset farmland, where the farmer describes his fields as a ‘write-off' that can't be used for grazing as it is strewn with rubbish, broken beer bottles, drugs paraphernalia, empty nitrous oxide canisters, & human excrement. 
  • Forest managers criticized the impact on local wildlife at an illegal music event on Haldon Hill, where Forestry England, which manages 3,500 acres of woodland south of Exeter, says the disturbance could damage the fragile ecosystem. 
  • Over the bank holiday weekend, police patrolled 23 potential sites across South Wales in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys

One land manager said: "Our forests & countryside should be available for everyone to enjoy but illegal raves can damage the environment, impact on wildlife & leave it in a dangerous state for other people. These events cause misery for visitors & local communities."

For a comparatively small investment in an alarm system or CCTV, land and properties even in remote sites can be protected and ultimately save £100,000's in repairs & clean-up costs.

A case study of one such example where huge savings were made by being forearmed can be read on the VPS website here https://bit.ly/2VP5cvtb


Tel: 0330 005 5300 tellmemore@vpsgroup.com

Notes: example raves reported in the press in April and May 2019

Illegal rave on Dorset farm https://www.farminguk.com/News/Farmland-a-write-off-after-illegal-rave-involving-1-500-people_51849.html

Illegal rave in Devon: https://www.devonlive.com/news/forest-rangers-slam-haldon-hill-2749759

Illegal Rave in Norfolk: https://www.derehamtimes.co.uk/news/two-charged-police-called-unlicensed-music-event-south-pickenham-1-5957528

Three raves broken up in Wales: https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/17599953.three-raves-broken-up-by-dyfed-powys-officers-over-bank-holiday/