THE chief constable of Greater Manchester Police Ian Hopkins has defended the force's decision not to intervene to stop two illegal raves involving about 6,000 people taking place at the weekend.

The raves took place at Daisy Nook Country Park in Failsworth where a 20-year-man died following a suspected drug overdose and at Carrington where an 18-year-old woman was raped and there were three separate stabbings.

Both events late on Saturday were illegal under coronavirus restrictions but GMP restricted its involvement to what they called "careful monitoring".

Mr Hopkins said: "The location was changed and that made it very difficult [to stop].

"Once these things start it is almost impossible to stop them given the number of people that were there and the number of officers available.

"It would have been very serious situation and many people, including my officers, would have been badly injured I believe."

He said that was why officers on the ground made the decision not to try to stop the gatherings.

"Some of the behaviour was appalling; some of this was not partying - this was people going out of their way to commit crime," he added.

Meanwhile, Oldham Council chiefs have officially condemned the rave which took place at Failsworth.

There are believed to have been around 4,000 people at the peak of the gathering.

Council leader Sean Fielding voiced "a huge appreciation" to the town hall officers and volunteers who came together to clean-up the mess that was left over on Sunday.

He said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the young man who sadly died. The news coming out about some of the horrific events at the Daisy Nook rave is truly shocking.

“Gathering for an illegal rave at a local beauty spot is something that would be rightly condemned at any time for the danger it places people in and the mess that is left for others to clean up.

"For this to happen in the middle of a global coronavirus pandemic adds an entirely new dimension to how irresponsible and selfish this gathering was. Gathering in these numbers under these circumstances has put many more people at risk of harm than just those present.”

“I would like to extend my thanks to those local residents who volunteered with the clean-up effort. It shouldn’t be necessary for volunteers to give up their time picking up other people’s rubbish on a Sunday but it does provide reassurance that the majority of people out there are decent and responsible.”

“Oldham Council will be working with Tameside Council and Greater Manchester Police to follow up on any actions that are necessary in response to what happened.”

Anyone with footage of the event that could assist with police enquiries should send it to scd.cctv@gmp.police.uk so that Greater Manchester Police can review it.