Moment illegal raver is left bloodied and battered after police beat him to the ground - as cops insist THEY were attacked with bottles and gave a 'proportionate response'

This is the moment an illegal raver was left bloodied and battered after police beat him to the ground - as cops insist they were the ones being attacked and gave a 'proportionate response'.

Police were called to a firing range field close to a British Army base in East Lulworth, Dorset, at 11.45pm on Saturday, where around 2,000 people had flocked for annual illegal Easter rave EggTek.

Riot police had plastic bottles and cans thrown at them by the 'violent and hostile' crowd as they tried to put a stop to the event and its huge sound systems which were blasting trance music loudly enough to wake up sleeping locals five miles away.

However, footage posted online shows riot police repeatedly hitting one reveller with a baton and a man and a woman with bloodied and battered faces, allegedly inflicted by the officers.

Earlier videos posted online showed ravers grouping together to push against the wall of riot police holding up shields whilst a police helicopter hovered above.

Other clips showed attendees stumbling around as they inhaled 'hippy crack' from balloons and danced to the thumping music.

One attendee accused police of being heavy-handed, claiming they 'attacked' people by dragging them across the floor and hitting them as they lay on the ground.

But David Sidwick, the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner, defended officers and said they used proportionate force after coming under 'intense assault' from the crowd.

Officers in riot gear had bottles and cans thrown at them as they stepped in to break up the unauthorised 24 hour rave that was attended by 2,000 people.

Footage shows a raver being dragged away by riot officers with a bloodied and beaten face

Riot police are seen repeatedly hitting revellers with batons in clips posted on social media

Another video showed a woman with blood on her face and in her hair from wounds alleged to have been inflicted by officers

Mr Sidwick: 'This was an illegal act that was well organised, nationally organised. It was an illegal event with no safety constraints.

'The police were absolutely right to do what they did and police this robustly.

'The police would have tried to close this down peacefully. They came under intense assault with bottles.

'The reason they closed it down was there were a number of illegal acts going on, drug taking but the immense inconvenience to the community around, you could hear this for miles.

'I had members of community come to me absolutely devastated by the noise, absolutely devastated that people were stopping and defecating in their drives, there was a lot of anti-social behaviour that occurred.

'The police were right to shut it down. I am certain that when it is reviewed it will show this was a proportionate response.'

Police attended and told the crowd to leave the site but to no avail.

Boosted by colleagues from neighbouring forces, officers in riot gear went in and physically dispersed the crowd which had become 'violent and hostile'.

Eleven people were arrested for a variety of offences, with one person charged with assaulting a police officer.

But attendee Zak Hanman, from Swindon, Wiltshire, told the BBC the event had been 'very peaceful' up to that point and no violence was presented towards the police.

He said: 'Everyone was just enjoying themselves, but the police... started dragging people to the floor, hitting them, attacking them when no violence was presented towards them.

'The violence they used was unethical, it was unhuman-like and it was just not needed.'

Officers in riot gear had missiles thrown at them by the 'violent and hostile' crowd at the 24-hour EggTek rave in East Lulworth, Dorset, on Sunday morning

Footage posted on social media shows ravers grouping together to push against the wall of riot police holding up shields whilst a police helicopter hovered above

Officers in riot gear had missiles thrown at them by the 'violent and hostile' crowd as they tried to put a stop to the event and its huge sound systems

He admitted he had seen violence towards police officers from partygoers, but said that only began after officers moved in.

He said: 'Towards the end, yes, people were throwing stuff at them [the police], but that was not until they were hitting people, attacking people.'

In one case in particular, he said he had seen officers 'hit this guy with a baton, even when he was on the floor'.

He added: 'Yes, people were taking drugs, yes, people were drunk, but that doesn't mean beat them up. Any human in their right mind can see that it was just not called for.'

Dorset Police said in a statement: 'This event caused significant disruption to local communities and we took appropriate and proportionate action to bring it to safe conclusion.

'While responding to the incident involving a large number of people, our officers came under attack from missiles and faced a violent and hostile reception.

'Violence in our communities and against our officers will not be tolerated.'