Studio usage for new schedule

[Jono]

Hundreds of drunken gatecrashers swarmed into a birthday party after the event was broadcast on BBC Radio 1.

Uninvited revellers stormed into a house in Bovey Tracey, Devon belonging to Rebecca Brooks, 54, and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

The fancy dress disco party was held to celebrate the 18th birthday of Mrs Brooks' daughter Sarah.

There were 100 invited guests but hundreds turned up after someone gave a "shout out" on Radio 1.

Four bouncers hired by the family were unable to handle the crowds at the party, held at Colehayes Park at Bovey Tracey, on the edge of Dartmoor.

Police eventually cleared the house with dogs, but were pelted with glass.

Mrs Brooks, 54, said someone called the radio show with details of the party.

She said: "I blame the BBC for this. We are considering our options.

"It was terrifying, absolutely terrifying. The droves of people coming towards the house was frightening, it looked like we had a rock festival here.

"They left a complete mess, with broken glass everywhere and pictures off the wall and broken - it was a rave situation," she said.

Mrs Brooks' husband Bill, 75, said he could not claim on his insurance because of the effect it would have on the premium.

Devon and Cornwall Police said a number of people were arrested, but were unable to say whether anyone had been charged.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7299061.stm

Now I'm sorry but that's ridiculous. How many shout outs have you ever heard which tell people the exact location of a house party. I've had a shout out at B&Q car park but people don't turn up looking for me... Jeesh. You have to question who the girl actually invited as obviously not all were considerate enough to keep it 'private'. Slightly amusing though.

[E*F*4L]

:shock:

these people just make me so angry. what is wrong with them! she gave a shout out, so what! so as a few more people turned up her parents have decided to blame R1 !

you would have thought that being aged 54 & 75 they would have grown up, they even hired bouncers who didn't do there job by the sounds of it and i cannot believe i have read this correctly !

Mrs Brooks' husband Bill, 75, said he could not claim on his insurance because of the effect it would have on the premium.

that's what it's for !

[Jono]

The NME reports that it was Pete Tong that gave the shout out.

Commenting on the affair, a BBC spokesperson said: "Pete [Tong] did not specify the name or address of the venue, but read out details of a mansion party taking place in Bovey Tracey sent in by a listener.

"He gives shout outs on his show every week, listeners are familiar with this format, and he would never knowingly give an identifiable address for a private party."

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/35234

Which is as I expected the situation would have been. The parents were stupid enough to hold a party in a mansion. They obviously knew it would get out of hand going by the fact they had four bouncers. They are to blame.

[KingTutsWWH]

My heart bleeds for them...

[DC]

it's all gone pete tong for them then.

blame the easy target i suppose, poor pete.

[Chris.]

To me they sounds like a little rich family who spend their lives screwing money out of others. It went wrong, so what? Don't blame the BBC for reading out a shout out, blame the kid who did it. I have sympathy for the 18-year-old daughter though, she's obviously going to be devastated. I have no sympathy for the parents just because of their snobbery. I would love to see them sue the BBC, they'll fail miserably.

[augusta92]

I dont suppose anybody would really be daft enough to blame R1. A shout out shouldnt be enough to identify exactly where the house was.

But I do think its sad that some individuals can go to a private party and behave so badly...The poor girl whose birthday it was must be really upset.

[Jono]

But I do think its sad that some individuals can go to a private party and behave so badly...The poor girl whose birthday it was must be really upset.

Yes, I can't judge the girl, but I do immediately think of the posh girls from Skins with all her freunds, ya. (Who has a party in a mansion?!)

However, it was unfortunate that even having four bouncers on the door couldn't stop them. This makes me think it was more of a 'flash mob' that just people turning up because of the radio mention.

I think there's a lot of factors to be considered, but Radio 1 is not the blame.

[DaNNiP15]

dont send a text to radio 1 if you dont want people turning up. silly.

[Jono]

dont send a text to radio 1 if you dont want people turning up. silly.

Well from what is being said here we're led to believe a party goer texted it or an outsider texted it. It was probably just an innocent message. Like the Radio 1 spokesperson said, it's very unlikely you'd work out where a party is just from one shout out.

[Mike]

I heard the shoutout go out on air... The person who texted in was the person holding the party... and she said everyone was invited...

Ha. Ha. Ha.

[Grace]

I heard the shoutout go out on air... The person who texted in was the person holding the party... and she said everyone was invited...

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Or someone texted in saying that they were hosting the party? However it turns out, I feel very sorry for the girl, as it's going to take a long time for her parents to forgive her. It's reasons like this I'd never hold a house party; if it gets out of control there's nothing you can do about it.

[KingTutsWWH]

I heard the shoutout go out on air... The person who texted in was the person holding the party... and she said everyone was invited...

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Well the parents don't really have a leg to stand on then, if they WERE planning to sue the BBC.

[Emma]

Errr? You might aswell broadcast it on MySpace.

[YoppaDo]

National radio is probably even worse than myspace.

So did she actually tell them where it was on air? If she didn't, then she must have spread the word through other means (or possibly it was world of mouth)

[Jono]

National radio is probably even worse than myspace.

So did she actually tell them where it was on air? If she didn't, then she must have spread the word through other means (or possibly it was world of mouth)

Only that there was a "mansion party taking place in Bovey Tracey"

[YoppaDo]

Only that there was a "mansion party taking place in Bovey Tracey"

I see, Newsbeat says that it was advertised elsewhere and no real address was read out.

The property owner sounded american too, that's quite strange.

[Lucinda]

Stingy gits... I think they should just claim on their insurance and get over it. That girl obviously let too many people know about her party. It's so tempting to just blame someone else. Gatecrashers are always a risk if you have a house party and they shouldn't have had one if they weren't prepared for the consequences.

[Hammer]

I see, Newsbeat says that it was advertised elsewhere and no real address was read out.

The property owner sounded american too, that's quite strange.

Americans can live in this country you know

[Jono]

The teenager whose 18th birthday party was gatecrashed by hundreds of revellers after a "shout-out" by the Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong has admitted being "foolish and naive".

Police were pelted with glass and used dogs to disperse up to 2,000 youths who caused £2,000-worth of damage to a Grade II listed building after Tong announced the party live on air on Friday night.

The programme had been contacted by one of the 300 guests who had been personally invited to the Georgian manor house near Bovey Tracey in Devon by Sarah Ruscoe, 17.

Yesterday Ms Ruscoe, a pupil at Torquay Grammar School, confessed to "putting up a poster at school and inviting 'everyone'".

"Little did I know almost everyone from Torquay Grammar sixth form would attend and what is more invite 'everyone' from different schools and the surrounding area," she said. "Admittedly perhaps I was foolish and naive but how often does a poster cause chaos and devastation?

"I soon realised it was spiralling out of control during the last week of the countdown until the party," she added. "By the last day I felt physically ill with worry but chose to keep my mother in denial for her own sake."

Her mother, Rebecca Brooks, is threatening to sue the BBC after chandeliers were smashed, windows and mirrors cracked, and pictures ripped off walls. "I think it's totally negligent of the BBC to allow a statement like that to be broadcast," Mrs Brooks, 54, said. "There are so many kids around with nothing to do on a Friday night, so when they hear there's about to be a big party on the radio they're going to go."

The BBC denied that a "shout out" by Tong was responsible for the gatecrashers' descent. "Pete did not specify the name or address of the venue, but read out details of a mansion party taking place in Bovey Tracey sent in by a listener," a spokeswoman said. "He gives shout-outs on his show every week – listeners are familiar with this format – and he would never knowingly give an identifiable address for a private party."

The item declared: "We're getting ready for a huge mansion party – 500 people going – it's in Bovey Tracey in Devon, tipping us off on that, anyone who's listening can come along, apparently – just say hi to Marilyn Monroe on the door."

Police officers were not called about the party, but went to the house at 10.30pm after they heard the announcement on Tong's programme. Riot vans and dogs followed. By the time the first police arrived at the house, Ms Ruscoe had set off the fire alarm to try to discourage gatecrashers. Four bouncers hired to oversee security had been overwhelmed.

Ms Ruscoe said she "went into hiding for a while", and broke down in tears before police had dispersed the last of the revellers.

Blocking the private drive to the house to stop the gatecrashers returning, police pushed the youths back toward Bovey Tracey, a small town on the edge of Dartmoor. After taxis were ordered to clear lingering partygoers, police reported disturbances in two nearby pubs and made three arrests.

The party had also been advertised on the social networking sites MySpace and Facebook.

The 21-bedroom house, Colehayes Park, stands in 20 acres of grounds and is used as a venue for school trips and weddings.

The party was to mark Ms Ruscoe's 18th birthday later this year.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/i-was-naive-admits-girl-whose-party-ruined-listed-house-796785.html

[Jono]

If you can fill a mansion with 2,000 people with just one mention it means Radio 1 have been overdoing it with the Big Weekend mentions. They only have to mention it ten times to fill the 20,000 people arena

[Lucinda]

The girl put up a poster at school, therefore it's her fault. Are they going to sue the school now, for failing to monitor what posters are put up there?

It's unfortunate that there's only one mansion, I'm guessing, in/near Bovey Tracey (I've never heard of the place) but they didn't exactly give out an exact address. Probably it would have been similarly gatecrashed with the poster in the school.

[Geezer7348]

The girl put up a poster at school, therefore it's her fault. Are they going to sue the school now, for failing to monitor what posters are put up there?

Couldn't agree more, the daughter was an idiot to even consider putting posters up in school, why didnt she just invite those "close" friends personally rather than advertise a party at her parents mansion?. I certainly dont think the BBC did anything wrong, if anybody is in the wrong it's the dopey daughter.

[RumbleTime]

The people to blame are the mugs that gatecrashed the party, what enjoyment would you get from going to someone's house and smashing the place to peices? Is it just me who thinks that aint all that fun.

As for blaming Pete Tong, ridiculous! And I wouldn't surprise me if they were American as they love sueing people over the pond!

[Jessica Lares]

With all the scandal happening at the BBC, I'm not surprised if they start pushing new policies of texts read out. While I don't think he's to blame for the 1,000s at the party, I think that he could have refrained from saying Bovey Tracey and just instead Devon. That way, there'd be no way for them to make a fair complaint.

But this girl sounds so chav, reminds me of all the rich people at my school who send out invites to EVERYONE in the school (hoping that they'll buy them something I guess). It was stupid to put up posters and flyers on Facebook. Who knows? People can forward those things to their friends and it's just as easy to text multiple people at a time about it.

I guess she hasn't seen the various television shows and movies that deal with the matter. It's always the same, isn't it? If you're going to have a party and tell everyone, they're going to tell everyone, who's going to tell everyone else.