House in seaside town invaded by 300 teens after party goes viral on Facebook

More than 300 teenagers were dispersed by police from a party at a residential house in Sussex on Friday night after a Facebook invite went viral.

An 18-year-old man was hospitalised after being assaulted on a neighbouring street in the aftermath, the police have confirmed, as they asked witnesses to come forward.

The house party took place in the seaside town of Worthing, West Sussex, but grew out of control after details of the event were made publicly available across Facebook.

It resulted in a swarm of uninvited guests descending on the house to the shock of neighbours and passersby.

Hundreds of school-aged teenagers ended up attending or trying to attend the party after details went viral online.

They were seen standing on the roads outside the front of the house, across neighbouring lawns and into roads as police were called.

Dozens of police cars and officers arrived on the scene and issued a dispersal order, which gives the police extra powers to disperse groups causing a nuisance, harassment or distress under anti-social behaviour laws.

Officers tried several tactics to break up the party, it is understood, including using megaphones, the dispersal order, and shutting the road to try and herd the hundreds of teenagers wandering the street away from the area.

One eyewitness described the scene as “chaotic” and said it “took several hours and a lot of manpower to resolve”.

It is understood that police from across the county were redeployed to the area to get the gathering under control, which it eventually was.

The party took place at a house on Poulters Lane, where the average price of property was £565,000 over the last year, according to online real estate website, Right Move.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said officers were called to the scene at 8:30pm due to reports of anti-social behaviour.

“Officers were quickly on scene and a Section 34 Dispersal Order was authorised, giving officers and designated police staff the power to disperse individuals behaving in an anti-social manner,” he said.

“The party was dispersed, and the area was cleared.”

Assaulted

However a man who was believed to have been at the party was later assaulted on a neighbouring road.

“Following the incident, police received a report of an 18-year-old man who was assaulted at around 10.30pm in South Street, Tarring,” the spokesman said.

“As a result of his injuries, he was taken to hospital and enquiries are ongoing to identify the suspect.

“Witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to contact Sussex Police online or call 101 quoting serial 1474 of 23/02.”

Worthing is located along the coast from Brighton, and has a population of around 112,000 people.