Surrey Police say they have a zero-tolerance policy on illegal raves

Surrey Police have launched a campaign to crack down on raves in the county.

They said officers went to Coldharbour in the early hours of Monday and found eight vehicles, sound equipment and a group of about 30 people gathering.

They said organisers of the rave left after seeing police officers on the land and the force helicopter overhead.

'First real test'

Surrey Police launched their campaign against raves in March and said they would operate a 'zero tolerance' policy.

They said people known to have organised raves in the past had been warned they could be given anti-social behaviour orders if they were involved in any illegal raves in the future.

Landowners have been told they could be in trouble if they are found not to have done enough to prevent an illegal event on their land.

Supt Martin Parker said: "This is the first real test of our tough new policy to stop raves before they even start and I am delighted that it has been such a success.

"I hope it will reassure local people of our determination to make sure they are not disturbed by these late night gatherings.

"It should also warn anyone who is thinking of setting up an event like this that we do have a good intelligence network and we have the resources to act on any information we receive."