New Year warning to WN village halls
VILLAGE hall committees are being warned to take extra care with New Year's Eve bookings after a West Dereham birthday bash became a full-scale rave, attracting more than 300 revellers.
Distraught committee members found their hall in Church Road littered with small canisters, thought to have contained nitrous oxide (laughing gas), cigarette ends and mud after the event on Friday, December 14.
Furniture had been thrown around in the hall and some of the chairs were broken.
Committee chairman Paula Kellingray said: "The smell of drink, drugs and urine hit you as soon as you opened the door."
Along the road verges there was a three-quarters-of-a-mile trail of rubbish left by the ravers, where their cars had been parked. Bottles were left in gateways and people had been sick there.
Miss Kellingray said a "hall of stalls" event, booked by a local fundraising group for the Saturday afternoon had to be cancelled as committee members set about the massive task of cleaning up the mess. "It took about 40 man hours," she said. The bill for cleaning up and repairs will be about 400 – and she said this would be sent to the villager who booked the hall, licensed for 99 people, for a "surprise 25th birthday party".
Police are aware of the circumstances, and it is now part of an investigation, she said.
Miss Kellingray said: "We only let to people in the village or people known to the committee and we try very hard to have a sensible letting pattern, so we are a bit shocked to think that someone could do this to a facility provided for the village.
"Now we are going to work with the police to see if there's any way we could tighten things up further."
Norfolk Police have issued a warning to people taking bookings for village halls and community centres at short notice to be wary.
Superintendent Mick Kirkham said they should ask questions on the motives for hiring the venue, get precise numbers for people attending and get a landline contact number and addresses of the organisers, which they should verify before confirming the booking.
"Sometimes the reality is that on occasions the intention is to engage in illegal activity."
Farmers and landowners are also being urged to remain vigilant as police believe individuals may exploit the holiday period to use empty farm buildings, warehouses and offices or remote land to host unlicensed raves.
Supt Kirkham said extra care should be taken to ensure that property entrances were secured.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
