Surfside owner Justin Gambin has reacted to the social media outrage following a party that broke out in his Sliema venue yesterday, saying it was impossible to stop people from dancing spontaneously.

“It all started off with people on tables of six, everyone relaxed and obeying the rules. But then when the DJ started playing music and people were getting drunk, we couldn’t stop them. Not even if I had 50 bouncers, one bouncer per table would I have managed,” he said.

“What am I going to do, follow someone to the toilet and direct them back to their seats?”

Gambin said it was particularly difficult to stop people from dancing given that they hadn’t partied in so long and the Prime Minister’s message yesterday made everyone relax.

“Everyone just exploded and got carried away,” he said.

Gambin said he closed the venue at 9.20pm after about 45 minutes of dancing when photos and videos had already started circulating online.

“By the time the police and the MTA arrived we had already shut the venue down and made everyone leave,” he said.

On Friday, Surfside promoted that it was getting a DJ to hit the decks on Sunday.