Lancashire Police shut down a Whittle-le-Woods teen party on Halloween night after more than 200 teenagers gathered at a house. Officers later said the gathering ended due to a breach of the peace.
The force said the party had extremely loud music, fireworks were set off towards nearby houses, and projectiles were thrown at officers. Three children were arrested, one child was taken to hospital with non-serious injuries, and 10 officers went to the property to restore order.
Whittle-le-Woods Halloween house party
Lancashire Police said many of the children were drunk and that cannabis had been smoked at the property. The force also said there were three adults at the house.
Officers appealed on social media for parents to come and collect their children. One arrested child was later de-arrested and taken home, while another was held on suspicion of possessing cannabis and a third on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.
Police response in Whittle-le-Woods
A force spokesman said, "The music at the premise was extremely loud and disturbing the peace of nearby residents." He also said, "One of the doors to the house had been barricaded, we later found out by the actual homeowner who wanted the children out of the house."
That detail explains the slowdown inside the property: the door was blocked first to limit more teenagers coming in, then police later learned the homeowner wanted the children out. The gathering had already escalated into a disturbance before officers closed it down.
What parents needed to do
For parents, the immediate step was to collect children from the house after police appealed for help on social media. The most serious consequences were already in motion by then: arrests had been made, one child had gone to hospital, and officers had brought the gathering under control after fireworks and projectiles were used during the disorder.
The open question is what caused the party to swell to more than 200 teenagers in the first place, and how long the disruption lasted before Lancashire Police ended it.
