A man who organised an illegal rave in Essex has been fined £10,000 for ‘blatantly’ breaching coronavirus rules.

The party was held back on Saturday, June 5, and was attended by more than 200 revellers – 150 more than the current limit for outdoor gatherings.

Police were called to Forest Drive, Theydon Bois, to shut down the event and say they were met with some hostility by partygoers.

However, the majority did as instructed and left.

Officers arrested a 38-year-old man - who was playing music to the crowd - on suspicion of breaching Covid rules.

The man, from Dunmow, has now been issued with a £10,000 fine for organising the illegal event – the highest amount under the coronavirus regulations.

Detectives had discovered a number of social media posts by the man which advertising the event and explaining how to get tickets.

Music equipment such as decks, speaker system and a generator were all seized by the police from the event.

The man has 28 days to pay the fine.

If it is not paid, he will be summonsed to court.

Supt Nick Morris said: “In this case, the individual made a conscious decision to be involved in a blatant breach of the regulations, and therefore it was appropriate for us to take enforcement action.

“This unlicensed event took place at a time which we now know to be a point where positive coronavirus cases were beginning to rise. Unfortunately, that trend has continued and events such as this are unhelpful given how hard the people of Essex have worked to suppress the virus in our county.

“We have taken a consistent approach to policing the coronavirus regulations since the beginning of the pandemic and that is to first engage with people, explain the regulations and encourage them to do the right thing.

“Only when those options have been exhausted will we consider enforcement action.”