Cornwall illegal rave: Partygoers leave moorland

An illegal rave which saw up to 1,000 people from across the UK descend on moorland in Cornwall has ended.

Loud music, crowds and traffic began on Friday night at Davidstow Moor and lasted all weekend, police said.

The majority of people had left, cordons were being lifted and there were 10 arrests for drink, drugs and driving offences, officers said.

Forestry England said a huge clean-up operation meant the area may have to be closed to visitors until August.

Devon & Cornwall Police said officers were still at the scene and they would seek to take action against the organisers of the gathering near Camelford.

Forestry England said the event had produced enough litter "to fill around six skips".

It said a specialist contractor would be required to clear the rubbish, potentially closing the forest to visitors until early August 2022.

Chris Mason, from Forestry England, said the long-term effects of the event could be "detrimental" to the surrounding wildlife.

He said: "Anything that was on the ground, like ground-nesting birds, has just been trashed. Anything that's breeding in the trees, like buzzards and even other birds of prey, they all would have been put off their nests.

"There could be younglings nesting now with the parents abandoning them, so it could be quite detrimental to them."

Bodmin Moor livestock welfare officer Julie Dowton said she was concerned about the state the land had been left in.

"Myself and the local area haven't had much sleep at all," she said. "We're not actually going into the wooded area because it is really pretty grim in there with so much human waste."

Colin Caudery, who lives nearby, said on Saturday he had not managed to get any sleep because of the "absolutely awful" noise.

"Drunkards from Scotland, Liverpool, Brighton, London, everywhere, it's just been total chaos," he told the BBC.

Tony Steed, a farmer and councillor for Davidstow Parish Council, said the partygoers were "good people" and had caused "no harm" to the area.

He said: "These people here have come down here, yeah it may be an illegal rave, but they're insisting they're cleaning up behind themselves.

"It's a disused runway ... there's no grazing in there and all that area is is a dog park ... they haven't destroyed nothing."

Devon & Cornwall Police said it would review its policing response to the event "in due course".

A spokesperson said: "Many factors have to be considered when policing a live and dynamic situation and our priority is always to ensure the safety of those involved, people in the surrounding areas and our officers."

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