Anger at police response after hundreds attend Peterborough street party

Huge numbers of people were seen partying in Sheepwalk, Paston, throughout the day and well into the evening, causing concern among nearby residents about a lack of social distancing.

Many of those concerned called the police who attended the scene but did not initially bring proceedings to a halt.

The scene was only cleared at 1.30am after reports of a fight, with one person being taken to Peterborough City Hospital by ambulance.

There were also reports of a person being stabbed but both the police and ambulance service said they could not find any stabbing victims.

Officers returned to the scene both at 4am and later in the morning - with the scene taped off - and will be carrying out patrols in the area this week, Cambridgeshire police said.

One street party eye-witness told the Peterborough Telegraph: “It started with just a few cars turning up and within an hour you couldn’t move with all the cars and people in the street. It was ridiculous.”

Another said: “Police have been informed but are not bothered about it. I don’t understand why these people are able to break all lockdown and social distancing rules without any consequence. Surely fines can be issued.”

A fourth person told the PT: “It was a dangerous situation - at one moint there must have been around 200 people here. There was someone on a quad bike and it was clear that in many cases there was no social distancing. We want something done and urgently.”

A third person said: “It started at about 4pm. Police finally broke it up at 1am after someone was put in the ambulance,”

Police statement

A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: “Police were initially called at about 8.20pm with reports of seven or eight cars and 20 to 30 people gathered in Sheepwalk.

“Due to other operational commitments and ongoing incidents, officers were not able to immediately attend. It was not reported there was any threat to public safety.

“At just gone 10pm police were called by the ambulance service reporting a collision in Sheepwalk whereby a pedestrian had suffered minor injuries. Ambulance staff also reported a ‘rave’ of up to about 300 people in the street.

“Police were deployed to the area, however, due to the sheer volume of people, many of whom were intoxicated, it was deemed there were insufficient officer numbers to be able to safely move people on from the area.

“At 11pm people gradually started to leave the area, however, about an hour later there were reports someone had been stabbed.

“Further officers were deployed, including specialist units, to support ambulance crews and locate the reported stabbing victim. No one with any injuries was identified at the location, nor had they presented themselves at hospital.

“Approximately 16 police officers were instructed to stay at the location to monitor the situation and deal with any specific disorder or threats to life and to engage with those present to advise them to go home.

“Just after 1am the majority of people had left the area, with music turned off and all people cleared from the area by about 1.30am.

“Officers remained at the location until about 4am and will be carrying out patrols of the area throughout the week.”

Superintendent Adam Gallop said: “We understand local residents were concerned, and some frightened, by the large gathering last night.

“This was unfortunately one of a number of incidents we were managing across the city at the same time and advice was sought from public order specialists in order to maintain public safety.

“A safety assessment was carried out and while recognising the impact to the local community, due to the numbers present, additional policing resources were required in order to safely disperse the crowd.

“While planning had commenced to bring the event to a close, positive engagement by the officers at the scene encouraged those attending to begin dispersing, with the majority of people having left by 1am.

“We will be conducting enquiries in the area over the coming days so residents may notice an increased presence. We will also be conducting patrols in the area to prevent any further similar incidents.

“There is a line between organising community events to build morale in this challenging time, and the events of last night which very clearly were not acceptable. The local policing teams will continue to work with all our communities to advise, guide and, where necessary, enforce guidance and legislation.

“We are investigating the source of the gathering and how it came to be of such a scale. Where any offences have been committed we will take action, but due to the scale of the event and the number of enquiries we need to carry out this could take some time.”

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We sent three ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and two ambulance officer vehicles to 999 calls from an incident in Sheepwalk, Paston, involving over 100 people in the early hours of this morning.

“Following reports of a man hemorrhaging, one patient was transported to Peterborough Hospital.

“Our crews were unable to locate another patient that was reported to have been stabbed.