A large group of young people was seen travelling from St Albans station to Borehamwood ahead of an illegal rave in the town – where two people sustained suspected stab wounds – on Saturday.

Officers are appealing for information as part of the investigation into the unlicensed music event.

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, August 15, police were called by a member of staff at St Albans City Station who alerted them to a large group of youths travelling to Borehamwood Station prior to the event.

Herts police worked in partnership with the British Transport Police, and were able to mobilise resources quickly to stop most of the group accessing the site and close the event down.

Officers deployed to the area were able to establish that the people were planning to attend a site near York Way.

Upon arrival at the site, police discovered two males – aged 31 and 16 – who had sustained suspected knife wounds. Neither of these injuries were life changing or life threatening.

Chief Inspector Mark Bilsdon said: “This was a large event with up to 600 people – many from outside Hertsmere – travelling to the area to take part. Thanks to partnership working and joint resources, we were able to shut down this event quickly.

“Sadly, on this occasion a violent incident occurred resulting in two people sustaining injuries. We would appeal to anyone who witnessed this or who has any information about it at all, to contact us as soon as possible.

“We would like to take this opportunity to remind people that unlicensed music events are illegal and by their very nature there are numerous risks involved in attending.

“Our primary concern is for the wider community, who are affected by the anti-social behaviour that comes with illegal events of this nature, and the young people attending who may not comprehend how dangerous they are, particularly in the current climate.

“The majority of attendees at this event were teenagers – please remember that as these events are unlicensed, there are no security measures in place, and no risk assessments have been carried out to ensure that the venue is safe. This creates the perfect environment for violence and destruction, as demonstrated at this event, and poses a serious risk to all in attendance.”

Police are aware that video footage, suggested to have been taken of the crime scene, is circulating on social media. At this moment in time, this footage has not been sent to, or officially reported to,

Ch Insp Mark Bilsdon added: “We would politely ask that people refrain from sharing the video, as this is a live investigation and it could have a significant impact on proceedings moving forward. Any video footage will be reviewed as part of the investigation.

“We have also received information that suggests other people may have also been injured, but left the scene without presenting themselves to the emergency services. If anyone else was hurt during the event and has not yet reported it, we would urge them to come forward and speak to us as soon as possible.”

Anyone with information can report information online at herts.police.uk/report, speak to an operator via our online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101 quoting ISR 945 of 15 August.

Alternatively, you can contact the Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.