Police last night hailed efforts to stop a weekend rave in a west Norfolk village as evidence their new “zero-tolerance” of illegal parties was working.

Police last night hailed efforts to stop a weekend rave in a west Norfolk village as evidence their new “zero-tolerance” of illegal parties was working.

Fourteen people were arrested after a tip-off that a party was under way from a landowner at South Acre, near Swaffham, early yesterday morning.

Another 20 were dispersed from an event across the border near Eye in Suffolk at almost the same time.

Chief Inspector Nick Davison said yesterday it was a further sign of Norfolk police's new tough line against raves, which he said disrupted people's lives, damaged the environment and put people at risk as some ravers might be tempted to drive home under the influence of drink or drugs.

But he admitted that the battle to stop raves was not easy.

“There is a bit of a cat-and-mouse game here,” he said. “We do not want to reveal our tactics as they do not want to reveal theirs.

“We will look to find our intelligence and resources from wherever we can get it from.”

Use of mobile phones to organise raves was hard for police to crack, he said.

But he added that the Association of Chief Police Officers was looking to get help from mobile phone providers.

Five vehicles and sound equipment were seized in the raid at a barn in South Acre, near Swaffham, before the rave had really got started.

Police were alerted to the event just after midnight by a landowner who saw vehicles congregating and heard loud music being played from a sound system.

Fourteen people found at the scene, aged between 15 and 45 years old - most aged in their early 20s - were arrested for a variety of alleged crimes including offences relating to the organising of a rave and the alleged possession and supply of Class A and B drugs.

At about the same, Suffolk police dispersed about 20 people and took vehicle number plate details at a rave being set up in Hoxne, near Eye.

Chief Insp Davison said: “We had pre-planned resources deployed, which quickly ended the event and led to the arrests. Early intervention meant the event had not turned in to a substantive event with many people attending it.”

He said he was grateful for information supplied by the public and appealed to landowners and the general public to be vigilant and report any incursions on to property.

The zero-tolerance approach would continue but anyone wanting to set up an event properly could contact police and ask how to do it legally.

Anyone who has information about an illegal rave or witnesses suspicious activity should contact Norfolk Constabulary on 0845 4564567 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.