POLICE and council officers in Hillingdon are cracking down on illegal raves taking place in the borough.

The borough security team and anti-social behaviour (ASB) investigation officers have been collecting intelligence on the raves, where organisers do not reveal the location until the last moment.

Officers have identified and broken up three parties over recent weeks.

CCTV is also used to identify any large groups that might be congregating before heading off to one of the ‘pop-up parties’.

The illegal parties, which have all been in the Uxbridge area, are usually in unused industrial or commercial outbuildings.

Hillingdon wants residents to identify any unused premises, so steps can be taken to ensure they are secure and cannot be accessed for events.

Jean Palmer, deputy chief executive, said: “So far we have intervened at an early stage and prevented the raves from getting fully underway, which has saved a lot of disturbance to residents.

“We will continue to work with the police to identify the organisers and prevent further nuisance.”

If a statutory noise nuisance is witnessed, officers will serve a noise abatement notice, which can result in a hefty fine.

Visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/asb to find out more about ASB and to report any issues.

The out-of-hours service operates Thursday, 8pm-2am, Friday and Saturday, 9pm-3am, and Sunday 7pm-1am on 01895 250111.