Woman faces £10k fine after Airbnb party for 100 revellers descends into street brawl

A 20-year-old woman is facing a £10,000 fine for holding an Airbnb house party with more than 100 revellers that saw a mass brawl break out.

One neighbour reported seeing blood stains on the road and another found a knife in a garden the next morning as the celebrations descended into chaos and party-goers poured into the street.

The rural rave was advertised online as a holiday rental property in Kent but instead saw people travel from more than 100 miles away for the pre-arranged party.

Neighbours called police at 4.25am on 30 May after seeing a fight break out in the street.

When officers arrived at the scene in Bearsted, near Maidstone, they discovered the Airbnb booking was made by a woman who lived more than 100 miles away in Milton Keynes.

At more than £800 a night, the countryside cottage features a jacuzzi and a movie room and sleeps up to 10 people.

It is believed the weapon found in a nearby garden was thrown over by party-goers. No injuries were reported to Kent Police. Laughing gas canisters were also found in the area.

The woman who found the stainless steel kitchen knife said: "It was very frightening. The noise was really bad, it went all over my house. I couldn't go to sleep until about 5am. On Sunday morning in the garden we found a knife, they had thrown it over.

"It was very loud, like kicking out time in a nightclub. They looked like they were having an argument, a bit of a confrontation."

The neighbour said she phoned police about the noise at around 2.30am but was told to ring the council. When she called the local authority, no one answered. She said officers only came to the scene when she told them a fight had broken out.

Another nearby resident said people were being dropped off in cars throughout the night and that during the fight there was "blood everywhere".

He added: "It's just something you don't expect, especially in a street like this, you see how quiet and tranquil it is all of the time.

"There were blood stains on the road, spread out everywhere. We just saw pushing, shoving, kicking."

The property host, who manages the building on behalf of the owners, said it was booked for five people and the Airbnb page states that "no parties or events" are allowed.

She said they had to bring in professional cleaners to clear up the mess made.

Another neighbour described seeing "at least 100" young people "coming and going all night long".

She said: "It was just thumping music all night long, shouting. It was just horrendous."

The Airbnb host, who asked to remain anonymous, said in the aftermath of the party that this was the first time the property had been rented out.

She said she met the woman who had booked the house, who seemed "lovely".

The host added: "We worked very hard on the house, everything was new, this was my first guest, I was very excited.

"It was just an absolute mess, they had taken all of the furniture out, dining tables, sofas, everything. The floors were worse than a nightclub. Your feet just got stuck into everything."

On the day of the rave, she drove past the house at around 11pm and the property was quiet, she said.

But the next morning she woke up to messages from neighbours and went round to find the carnage inside the house.

She added that the property is not a "party house" and the situation was "very upsetting".

Thames Valley Police went to the home of the woman who made the booking and she was issued with a fixed penalty notice for holding a gathering of more than 30 people "in a private dwelling" - a breach of current Covid regulations.