POLICE in Essex in the UK went into full tactical mode earlier this week when they received reports of an "illegal rave" which would flout COVID-19 gathering restrictions.
Several squad cars were urgently dispatched to the Saxon Hall venue in Southend, but when they arrived were somewhat bemused to find a crowd of octogenarians queuing to receive coronavirus vaccinations.
Essex Police confirmed they had attended "reports of congestion at the vaccination centre" and that officers had visited the site to assist with traffic management.
However, Dennis Baum, the chairman of the facility, told Echo News that when the police arrived they had expected to find teenagers with glow sticks, strobe lights and loud music.
Not so, he said. "Grumpy old men and grumpy old women were in abundance," complete with wheelchairs, walking sticks and walking frames - and problems exacerbated when vaccine supplies were delayed.
"It was absolute chaos and very cold...the car park became chock-a-block with 80-year-old plus drivers," Baum added.
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