The owners of the former Stillingfleet Mine, which was used for an ‘illegal rave’ at the weekend, have said they are ‘conducting a review of security measures’ to try to ‘prevent further incidents’.

As reported in The Press, nine people - all men in their 20s and 30s – have been arrested in connection with the rave, which began on Saturday evening and continued through until late on Sunday morning.

All nine have been released on bail while inquiries continue.

Up to 1,000 people are understood to have attended the rave, which villagers say was highly organised, with two ‘massive stages’ and vans full of music equipment.

Angry locals from Stillingfleet village reported pounding noise all night and into the morning, as well as drink and drug use.

There were even allegations that some of the revellers used the village green in Stillingfleet as a public toilet.

Police say the rave involved ‘loud music, drug use and disorder’. They seized and impounded several vans full of music equipment just after 1pm on Sunday – more than 12 hours after the rave began.

A police spokesperson admitted that, over the weekend, some officers were deployed to London to help out with policing the Coronation celebrations, but insisted: “This wouldn’t affect our deployment to Stillingfleet in any way.”

Villagers also questioned how the ravers had managed to get access to the mine site.

In a statement released to The Press on Thursday, Harworth Estates - the successor to UK Coal - said it ‘understands the concerns of the local community’.

It said: “Harworth is aware of an incident that took place on Saturday night and Sunday morning at its site in Stillingfleet.

“We are taking this matter very seriously and are working in close cooperation with the police.

“We want to thank them and the local community for their patience and understanding while a police investigation takes place.

“We are conducting a review of security measures at the site to identify what more we can do to prevent further incidents of this nature.”

Villager Suzanne McCloud welcomed the Harworth statement, and the assurances that they would be reviewing security.

She said one of the big worries had been the number of ravers who were getting into cars and driving off while clearly unfit to drive.

“That’s the big worry that we would have had – that somebody that’s drugged up might have hit somebody in the village,” she said.

“They were getting in their cars in a state where they were very much unfit for driving.”

Speaking to The Press earlier, Suzanne said witnesses in the village had seen people using the village green in Stillingfleet as a public toilet.

She told The Press: “Someone saw four young people getting out of a car, defecating on the green, and then getting back into the car and lighting some joints.”

Villagers have speculated that the organisers of the rave may have deliberately timed it for the coronation bank holiday weekend, when they knew police may be on coronation duties and council offices closed.

The county councillor for Stillingfleet, John Cattanach, has said he is seeking a meeting with the local police commander in Selby to discuss what happened.