A RAVE organiser last night defended his all-night dance party which sparked a string of complaints from people living five miles away.

The legal party, near Cassington, attracted nearly 500 revellers, and went until 6am on Sunday morning.

Calls were taken by the police and environmental health officers from householders in North Oxford about noise before the music subsided.

The all-nighter, dubbed the Cassington Closing Party, had been given the go-ahead by West Oxfordshire District Council – which said organisers had met all its conditions.

But those who suffered a disturbed night said events should not be allowed to continue so late.

Moray McConnachie, from Wolvercote, said: “There was quite audible music and the windows were rattling. In the village shop the next day everyone was saying they had been woken up by it.”

His wife, Katherine Kaye, said: “It is ridiculous. It was wrong to allow it to go on to 6am.”

Meanwhile, Janet Davis, from Jericho, Oxford, said: “I heard it for most of the night. It was a dull thumping noise – a boom, boom, boom. They shouldn’t have allowed it to continue as late as that.”

Organiser Matthew Hatwell, who owns the land, said all conditions had been met and he had complied with requests made by police and the council.

He said: “I have put events on before and we always have a proper licence. We have held four this summer, all with a licensed bar, security and fencing.

“There will always be people who complain, but I also get a lot of support from the village.”

West Oxfordshire District Council spokesman Carys Davies said organisers had submitted a temporary event notice to the council. She said the council had no authority to refuse it or stipulate conditions, such as when it had to finish.

She said the council passed details of the application to the police, who also made no objections.

She said: “The police can only object if there are previous incidents of crime and disorder, which was not relevant in this case.”

She added: “The police did attend and they concluded that the event was being well run, numbers did not exceed the notice, and the noise was not excessive.”

Clive Salisbury, of the environmental heath team, said six complaints had been received about excessive noise and he had requested a meeting with organisers to discuss arrangements for future events.

He said: “We want them to have a nice event and to ensure residents are not disturbed.”

He said there was no legal limit for noise, but that events had to stay within “reasonable” levels.

Councils can serve a statutory noise abatement order on events or premises, if they have evidence there is likely to be a nuisance.

Oxford City Council and Thames Valley Police both said they had received five noise complaints.

  • Were you affected by the noise? Contact us at news@oxfordmail. co.uk or call 01865 425500