Hundreds of people gathered for an illegal rave in Brighton.

The rave took place in fields off Ridge Road, Falmer, overnight from Saturday to yesterday.

Police said complaints from members of the pubic started at 5am yesterday.

Some of the revellers were still partying at 11am yesterday, but police said they would not break up the party as they believed the event would end of its own accord.

Teenage girls were seen dancing in their underwear and other revellers in the field, a few miles from the A27 junction for Rottingdean and Falmer, appeared to be intoxicated.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said there had been a few complaints from members of the public in nearby Falmer village.

People as young as 14 were seen at the event, where beer and cider was being offered for sale for as little as £1 and stored in a hole in the ground to be kept cool.

Brighton Aldridge Community College pupil Jonah, 16, would not give his surname. He said: “It was free and friendly. The police came, but they were really nice and polite. We’ve had a great time.”

He claimed there had been another rave at a squatters’ camp in the old Co-op building in London Road.

Another boy, Shannon, 18, said: “This event was organised by friends of friends, and people find out about it by word of mouth. They are being organised every few weeks.

“Some people were off their heads, and I was drunk earlier.”

Sussex Police have previously said it is virtually impossible to close down raves once they have started, and that they cannot be crowd controlled as this would require such a vast numbers of officers.