A man has been slapped with a £10,000 fine for organising an illegal rave in Theydon Bois earlier this month.

The party organiser was fined under coronavirus regulations after police broke up a 200-person event off Forest Drive, Theydon Bouis, at about 11pm on Saturday, June 5.

Police officers claim they were 'initially met with hostility' and had objects thrown at them but say the majority of attendees were calm and compliant.

A 38-year-old man, who was playing music to the crowd, was arrested on suspicion of breaching coronavirus rules.

The man, from Dunmow, has now been issued with a £10,000 penalty notice for holding or being involved in the holding of a gathering of more than 50 people, the largest number allowed under current coronavirus restrictions.

Detectives discovered a number of social media posts by the man which were clear advertisements of the event, which included information on how to get tickets.

The force also seized music equipment such as decks, speaker system and a generator used to power the event.

The man has 28 days to pay the fine. If it is not paid, he will be summonsed to court.

Superintendent Nick Morris, who has led the Essex Police response to the pandemic, 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.”