Statement from Essex Police

WE have fined reckless individuals more than £18,000 in organiser fines and fixed penalty notices overnight.

It’s after hundreds of people chose to attend unlicensed events in our county to flout coronavirus restrictions, endanger themselves and others, and put extra strain on our NHS on New Year’s Eve.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Prophet said: “I’d like to firstly thank everyone across Essex who stayed at home and did the right thing last night.

“You’re protecting our NHS and you’ve allowed us to attend a large number of callouts across the county, including arresting three people on suspicion of murder in Rayleigh following the tragic death of a man in Worcester Road.

“Unfortunately, there were others who decided to blatantly flout the coronavirus rules and regulations and, ultimately, they decided that partying was more important than protecting other people.

“We’ve seized their equipment, arrested five people, and issued a large number of fines to those who think this behaviour is acceptable.

“We need you to keep yourselves, other people, and the NHS, safe. Thank you again to everyone who spent their New Year’s Eve in a responsible, legal, way. Stay safe, Essex.”

Officers from our Operational Support Group attended three main locations throughout the course of last night and the early hours of this morning.

The first was a conservation-run church in Thorndon Park, where hundreds of people had gained entry. In attempting to engage with party-goers, officers had objects thrown at them and were threatened.

We gained entry, seized the equipment and dispersed the crowd before midnight. Three arrests were made, including:

A 27-year-old man from Harlow, arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, a public order offence, and of offences under The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020.

A 22-year old man from Harlow, arrested on suspicion of a public order offence, possession of cannabis, and of offences under The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020.

A 35-year-old man from Southwark was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A and possession of Class B drugs.

Officers later seized a generator at an unlicensed event at an abandoned warehouse in Brentwood and dispersed around 100 people. Two people were arrested: one for failing to provide details, and the other on suspicion of drink driving.

A woman was issued a £10,000 fine for organising a house party with around 100 attendees on Bury Road, Sewardstonebury.

We seized the equipment inside and dispersed the crowd, issuing more than 25 fixed penalty notices in the process.

A dispersal order remains in place until midday today, Friday 1 January.