May Day celebrations

The Mezzanine May Day Ball has been held in Milton Common for the past three years and on Sunday night into Monday morning the usually peaceful village became a mass of buses and taxis dropping off excited and glamourous party goers.

Unfortunately the rain had turned the field into ankle deep mud and I was thankful I had decided not to come in a full ball gown, but in jeans and trainers.

Some of the country's best DJs played thumping music in four music tents surrounded by food stalls, bars, hair salons, bungee jumps and fun fair rides. My first stop was a bungee jump, one of my friends desperately wanted to fling herself out of a cage suspended from a crane. She screamed and swore as she bounced about at the end of the rope and then promptly decided she would go again. But we dragged her away into the warmth of a dance tent.

The heat hit us as we entered the dingy plastic tent and the crowd was going crazy.

Giant screens flashed out weird images and there were blasts of dry ice on to students dressed from head to foot in fluorescent clothes and men in drag rubbing shoulders with people in dinner suits and ball gowns.

As each crescendo of music built, the crowd leapt up screaming, waving their hands and the whole tent seemed alive and moving to the music. As heat built up inside and the night grew colder outside big blobs of condensation dropped on your head from time to time but no one seemed to really mind.

As the night wore on we went from tent to tent trying to catch our favourite acts, from Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules, Death In Vegas, Boy George, Goldie and Scanty Sandwich.

In the VIP tent, protected from the ordinary clubbers, a man dressed as a Spanish waiter sang covers of songs by Michael Jackson as those with connections sipped champagne and beer.

By the time the sun was coming up at 4am I was starting to wilt. Squinting eyes peered at you through the early morning mist and many were beginning to think if this was such a good idea. But we had to stay for the finale in the main tent. Dancers dressed as angels and devils cavorted on stage and wavers clutching their fluorescent toys swung wildly.

As the music came to a stop just after 6am we headed for the shuttle buses and found about 1,000 people had the same idea.

Eventually after standing around in the cold light of day for an hour we struggled on a bus that was going vaguely in our direction.

Back in Oxford muddy, bedraggled dancers wandered quietly off into the streets. My friends called to ask if I was joining them in the traditional May Day drinking in the city pubs and I went to meet them not really knowing what I was doing. The live music and smell of the beer was enough for me and I decided to call it a night at 8.30am.

Celebrations at the bridge

May Day revellers were up at the crack of dawn for the traditional celebrations at Magdalen Bridge.

The festivities passed off peacefully and police hailed the event a great success, with no arrests and no serious injuries.

As the clock struck 6am, more than 10,000 bleary-eyed revellers fell silent and looked to the 144ft college tower, where the Magdalen College Choir sang Madrigals. When the singing finished the tower bells were rung to welcome the official start of Spring.

The bridge itself was closed for the third year running as council chiefs and the police agreed it could not cope with the weight of huge crowds pushing against the parapets.

The 100 police officers, many on horseback, maintained a strong presence to deter drunken students from leaping off the bridge into the River Cherwell. Student Natasha Beasley, of Wantage, said she was disappointed to see the bridge closed again. She said: "It seems to be a different excuse every year. Really they just want to stop the students leaping into the river and that was the most fun on May Day anyway."

Mr Bob Block, chief executive of Oxford City Council, said he would love to see the bridge open but feared it was unsafe for such large crowds.

He said: "We are keen to see the bridge open and that is what we are trying to achieve. It went very well. It was friendly and happy."

The bridge was re-opened at about 7am.

Many students, some wearing black ties or ballgowns, came straight from college parties the previous night, including the Oxford May Day Ball, the dance music extravaganza at Milton Common. As the crowds dispersed, morris men kept people entertained while cafes and restaurants in High Street opened up early for hungry revellers looking for a Bank Holiday breakfast.

Supt John Carr, of Thames Valley Police, said the 100 officers on duty was a significant reduction from last year, when more than 130 officers were present.

He said: "We have done a lot of planning for this event and it was a great success as far as we are concerned. We would like to have less police officers there and that is something we are working on.

"But we would like to thank everyone for the way they behaved. It was a really enjoyable event."

An Oxford University medical team spokesman said they had no injuries to deal with. *****Concerns over noise: Action is needed to cut down on noise levels before any more May Balls are held at Rycote Farm.

That was the view of one exhausted and angry householder from Milton Common, after a sleepless night.

He said: "The noise all night was horrendous.

"I have double glazing on my bungalow to blot out the M40 noise and it works - but it was totally useless against the noise from the ball. The windows shook and the walls vibrated. I got no sleep at all."

Mr Walker, a member of Great Milton Parish Council, said the noise was worse than last year.

"At least they turned down the noise last year - this year it went down and then was turned up again." He is trying to get his neighbours to bombard South Oxfordshire District Council with protest letters to make sure either the May Ball is moved or there is real action to get it toned down.

"I was given four mobile phone numbers by the organisers to ring if things got bad.

"Not one of them worked - they probably couldn't hear them over the din."

Tiddington parish council member William Tremayne and his wife who live close to the site want the ball moved to somewhere away from houses.

They both protested to the district council when the ball's licence was up for renewal. But his colleague on the parish council, Alan Stratton who lives in the lower part of the village, heard nothing.

He said: "Last night seemed ok - I've not heard of any problems."