THE sound of the loud music from the bank holiday rave in Savernake Forest may have died away but questions are still reverberating about why police allowed the event to continue.

Michael Ancram, the MP for Devizes, is the latest to become involved in the battle of words between Lord Cardigan and Wiltshire Police.

He has asked the Chief Constable, Dame Elizabeth Neville, to explain why police did not use their powers to bring the event to a halt and, if necessary, seize the amplification equipment as the law permits.

The 36-hour rave started on the evening of May 3 and ran through the night and again on the Sunday night.

Families over a wide area complained of being kept awake by the amplified music from the six or seven lorry-mounted stages.

Numbers attending the event were estimated at between 800 and 1,000.

Police have attempted to justify their softly-softly reaction by saying they sought to see the event end without any public disorder or possible bloodshed.

They say their stance was vindicated by the absence of any confrontation and just one arrest for a drugs related matter.

Chief Superintendent Mandy Evely who was in command of police at the event, told the Gazette last week that because the rave took place in dense woodland, there was the likelihood that any attempts to force the revellers to leave would promote violence.

Chief Supt Evely said officers had been called from all divisions in Wiltshire she is normally the senior officer in Chippenham's C division to help contain the event.

The officer said it was her decision not to try to break up the rave because of the risk of injury to those attending or to her officers.

But she said the organisers of the rave had been spoken to by police on Sunday and they agreed to turn down their amplifiers for the second night.

She said indications that the revellers might become hostile were evident when they began to show signs of aggression when TV cameras began filming the rave.

The Earl of Cardigan, whose family owns Savernake Forest, was amazed at the police's approach. He said: "The bottom line is that those who organised the event have now been told they can come to Wiltshire, smash their way into private property, cause damage to property and that the police will do nothing."

Mr Ancram echoed Lord Cardigan's views this week, saying that he too feared that the stance adopted by the police over the rave weekend appeared to send out the wrong messages to rave organisers contemplating where to organise their next events.

The MP said: "I have written to the chief constable to take up complaints that have been made to me and also to express my own concern at the police reaction."