THEY came, they raved and then they cleared up the mess into bin bags and disappeared.

More than 5,000 people attended a ‘free party’ underneath Thelwall Viaduct on Saturday night until the crowd finally dispersed at 10.40am Sunday.

Word was spread secretly by friends through partyline phone numbers and texts across the north west with some travelling from London for the all-nighter.

One raver from Nantwich said ‘it was the best night of his life’.

He added: “There was no violence, just a really good party.”

Videos of the event posted on Youtube have had more than 3,000 hits.

The majority claimed it was a ‘peaceful night, full of like-minded people having a good time’ while some comments on Youtube suggested some of the ravers were carrying knives and mobile phones were stolen.

The organisers’ names are being kept a secret but many of the party-goers praised Cheshire Police for their handling of the event.

A raver from Bolton said: “The organisers have a respect policy for chosen venues and will always take bin bags and go around the venue during the last hours and after the event and clean as much litter as possible.

“There are also stewards who are posted to ensure party-goers safety.”

Locations for the regular parties are frequently changed attracting age groups from teenagers to adults aged 40 to 50.

A 26-year-old from Wigan said: “We’ve known the date for roughly a month. Once you have got the postcode, it’s all go.

“Details are shared purely via private texts or Facebook messages, it’s never posted in a forum online or in public anywhere.

“The majority of people in attendance agree that it was one of the most well organised, safe, free parties that they’ve attended.”

Three sound systems were linked up for Saturday night’s event leading to one raver describing the M6 as shaking when they travelled over it.

A Cheshire Police spokesman said: “Police and ambulance personnel were on site to ensure the safety of those at the rave and road users.

“No major issues were reported.”