Sheffield rave: Police issue statement over claims officers knew where notorious rave was which kept city awake

Residents across Sheffield, some of them furious, flooded social media with posts asking about loud music which could be heard across the city overnight between Saturday, February 25, and Sunday, February 26.

They demanded to know what police officers were doing to try to locate the rave, many claiming that they had been robbed of a night’s sleep and calling for action against those responsible for the noise disturbance.

Music was heard in places including Nether Edge, Greystones, Millhouses, Heeley, Nether Edge, Loxley, Woodseats, Meersbrook, Totley, Wybourn, Crosspool, Crookes, Broomhill and Broomhall.

On the Sunday, once the music had subsided, South Yorkshire Police issued a statement to say that the force had “received multiple complaints” about the noise and “despite enquiries and searches to seek to locate the source of the noise, officers were unfortunately unable to locate any event”.

They force said at the time that they believed two events had taken place in the Ringinglow and Darnall areas.

Photographs have since emerged online reported to show police officers at one of the raves.

In response, South Yorkshire Police has revealed that officers did locate the Darnall event, but it was nearly over at that point. The force said there were around 50 people there on private land, with the land owner’s permission.

The force said officers never located the location of the Ringinglow rave, which was believed to have been responsible for most of the noise issues that night.

Chief Inspector Gareth Thomas said: “Events like these are challenging to deal with due to their remote location, number of attendees, and presence of alcohol/drugs. For this same reason, they are inherently risky for those who choose to attend them, as they lack any proper control or management, with the absence of any fire safety accreditation, health and safety certification, Security Industry Accreditation (SIA) staff, professional medical support or Temporary Event Notices.

“Throughout the early hours of Sunday, February 26, police received multiple complaints about noise coming from an event at an unknown location in Sheffield. We appreciate this caused significant noise disruption and affected members of the public across a large part of Sheffield.

“Following further investigations since, it is believed two events had taken place in the Ringinglow and Darnall areas. On the night in question, despite enquiries and searches to seek to locate the source of the noise, officers were unfortunately unable to locate any event.

“The next day, after locating the ongoing event in Darnall, officers attended and found it to be operating within relevant legislation and without significant noise disruption. It therefore continued with a police presence and later came to an end of its own accord. Enquiries have been ongoing since to seek to identify the location of further events that evening which were the cause of the significant noise disruption.

“We understand the frustration these events cause to residents. Using the resources available to us, we are working with partner agencies and utilising ‘problem oriented policing’ techniques to develop a long-term response to this emerging issue.”