ORGANISERS of the "rave" held in ancient woodland near York have apologised for disturbing nearby residents.

They said that when the sound system was set up in Stub Wood, Acaster Malbis, they had not realised it was pointing towards a number of houses.

"When we learned about this, we immediately turned it down considerably, although apparently not enough," said Jens, one of the organisers. "We would therefore like to apologise for the inconvenience caused."

She also apologised for a few beer cans left behind after the event "by someone who did not heed our instructions".

But she also claimed that such parties provided relief for bored local young people, and said organisers had made repeated attempts to rent land from farmers all over the north of England, wanting to keep such events "as legal as possible," but to no avail.

Her comments came after villagers from Acaster Malbis had complained angrily about being woken by the racket from the woodland party, which was held almost a fortnight ago.

Landowner Roger Raimes also claimed that the wood had been violated and defiled, alleged he had witnessed drug-taking among party-goers and said a fire lit by the ravers could have set the woodland alight had it not been for recent rain.

But the organisers insisted full precautions had been taken to avoid causing a blaze. "We would not have allowed a fire, had it not been the case that it had been raining heavily in the preceding hours and days," said Jens.

"The fire was located adjacent to the system, always watched and there were fire extinguishers at hand."

She also thanked police for their "sensitive approach" to the event, saying it was sensible to let people sober up before leaving the area.

Mr Raimes was unimpressed by the organisers' comments, insisting that he had seen drug-taking and saying that at two previous raves held in the woods, he himself had been offered drugs.

Updated: 10:55 Thursday, May 15, 2003