TWO men who organised an illegal rave which attracted revellers from throughout Lancashire have been fined and had their music equipment seized.

Graeme Mizon, 43, of Mark Lane, Todmorden, and Paul Aughton, 45, of Long Butts, Penwortham, set up the late night party, which included marquees and a huge sound system at a secluded area in Rivington, near Chorley.

Plans for the event were publicised via social networking website Facebook.

The pair were found guilty of providing licensable activity without a licence following a one-day trial at Chorley Magistrates’ Court.

During the operation to close the event, which began at around 11pm on May 15, police closed roads leading to Dean Head Lane and stopped dozens of vehicle heading to the event.

Police said that loud amplified music was being played, two large marquees had been erected and around 60 people were already in attendance.

At 1.50am a formal direction to leave was delivered to the crowd and the music was terminated.

Mizon and Aughton were both fined £615 including costs and the court made a depravation order of the music and sound equipment, which was seized by police on the night and is valued at around £6,000.

Sgt Tony Bushell from the police licensing department said: “The real coup is the seizure and forfeiture of the equipment which will prevent these individuals from carrying out these events in future.

“We have seen a number of raves in the area and these events cause considerable problems for local residents. "They also impact massively on police resources and result in an increase in violent crime.

“Due to the footage gained by our evidence gatherers on the night, we were able to satisfy the court that the defendants played some part in the organisation despite their denials.”

In September 2009, a similar rave was broken up by police in Rivington when around 400 people attended.

On that occasion officers remained at the scene until 7am and it was reported revellers travelled from Lancashire, Manchester and Yorkshire.