PARTY-GOERS at an illegal rave in a disused Gwent quarry pelted a police car with stones as they went to the aid of an injured woman.

Up to 1,000 people are thought to have gone to the rave at the disused Trefil quarry, near Tredegar, over the bank holiday weekend.

The mass revel was believed to have been organised over the Internet, with many of those attending coming from the Bristol area.

Police say they received an emergency call on Sunday evening that a woman had been injured. Just a few weeks ago a Gwent man was trapped in his car for two days after an accident at the site, prompting a major rescue operation.

But when police arrived at the scene on Sunday, they were pelted with missiles by a gang of revellers. No damage was caused to the police vehicle and nobody was injured in the incident.

The woman had suffered minor injuries to her ankle and she was taken to hospital by ambulance.

A spokesman for Gwent Police said: "We think the party-goers may have taken our presence there the wrong way.

"It's possible they thought that we were there to shut down the rave, when really we were involved in a rescue."

Sergeant Ash Jones, of Tredegar police station, told the Argus that up to 1,000 people had attended the illegal rave and began arriving at the quarry on Friday evening.

He said apart from the one incident the rave was peaceful. "We policed it from a distance and received very few calls from residents," he said. Sergeant Jones added they were still assessing what happened at the quarry.

He said: "We are still looking at what happened but we will be looking at possible preventative measures and approaches for the future."

However, people living in the village said the road from Trefil to the quarry had been "like Brands Hatch" at the weekend.

A woman from the town, who asked not to be named, added: "It has been very dangerous here. There are a lot of children who could have been hurt. There are a lot of animals on this road as well."

Tredegar town councillor Alison Tippings, who also lives in the town, added: "We have concerns for the safety of the villagers with the traffic."