Britain is a country with an illustrious history of illegal raves, and another entry of opportunism was added into that legacy on March 31 when five people were arrested for attempting to hold a massive rave in an abandoned Toys R Us store in the Hounslow borough of West London.
The officers also seized a sound system at the shuttered store, located at Hounslow’s Bull’s Bridge Industrial Estate. The party, planned as a “massive Easter Weekend rave,” according to media reports, had not yet started.
Posting on Twitter, Hounslow MPS shared a photo of a Toys R’Us sign, which had been daubed in graffiti so it read “Raves R Us,” although it appears the photograph may have been altered by the person operating the department’s Twitter account (which does show a sense of humor in several entries).
#ResponseTeamC and #ResponseTeamB have disrupted an unlicensed music event in #Hounslow and five arrests made. #411TX pic.twitter.com/pwHbRxKCCA
— Hounslow Police (@MPSHounslow) March 31, 2018
“Police have closed down an unlicensed music event on Bull’s Bridge Industrial Estate, Hayes Road, UB2,” a tweet reads. “Sound system has been seized and several arrests made. Do not travel to this area as all attendees and ticket holders are being turned away.”
Toys R Us announced last month that it will close or sell most of its stores in the U.S. and U.K. The retailer declared bankruptcy in September.
The story had spread into several different countries’ news sites by Thursday morning, with various headlines reading “Des Anglais ont organisé une rave illégale dans un Toys ‘R’ Us abandonné,” “Deram uma ‘rave’ numa loja da Toys R Us,” “Cinco detenidos tras una rave en un ‘Toys R Us’ de Londres” and “Organizzano un rave in un Toys “R” Us di Londra: cinque arresti.”
