Appleby Fair has been hailed as a safer, more enjoyable and better co-ordinated event than ever before.

This year's Fair ended yesterday with the final remaining Gypsies and Travellers leaving the licensed campsites north of the town.

The number of Gypsy and Traveller visitors was around 20 per cent down this year on 2008. A total of 1,499 caravans were counted on encampments in Eden on Saturday June 6, compared with 1,840 on Saturday June 7th 2008.

The Multi Agency Strategic Co-Ordinating Group (MASCG) which co-ordinates the work of the key public agencies overseeing the event has been keen to return the Fair to its traditional origins after it has swelled in size in recent years.

The number of market stalls operating at the Fair also decreased this year, down from 272 in 2008 to 210 this year. No unlicensed street traders were found during visits by Eden District Council licensing staff attending the Fair. Thirty Trading Standards Officers from across the north west were joined by brand holders from the Anti-Counterfeiting Group to target traders selling counterfeit clothing at the Fair. During the operation they seized 4,000 items of counterfeit clothes, footwear, sunglasses and accessories worth in the region of £250,000 and illegally copying 50 different brands.

The clean-up operation around the Fair has also been working well. An additional 38 large temporary bins and 38 temporary toilets were set out within Appleby for those attending the Fair to use. The town centre of Appleby was cleaned every day of the Fair and overall less litter needed to be collected this year than last year (70 tonnes of litter were collected in 2008 and, although exact figures are not yet available, it will be less this year).

Road side verges outside Appleby are also being cleared. The clean-up of transit and caravan sites is the responsibility of the land owners and not Eden District Council, but the clean-up of licensed camp sites will be monitored in accordance with the site licensing conditions.

Overall the level of compliance with site licence conditions was good, although one site did exceed numbers slightly and will be issued with a formal warning.

Operation at transit sites such as at Cote Moor went very well. The MASCG is still looking to improve arrangements at areas such as Warcop, which experienced a period of disruption during the Fair this year.

Kevin Douglas, Chief Executive of Eden District Council and Chair of the Appleby Fair MASCG, said:

"We will have a full debrief later this month, but initial feedback for the 2009 Horse Fair is that all our hard work and planning has paid off, and that the operations put in place have worked well.

"Many people have commented that the Fair has been better controlled this year and therefore has had a better atmosphere for people visiting this unique event. I would like to thank all agencies involved, local residents and the Gypsies and Travellers for their co-operations with us in making these arrangements work.  People wishing to pass comment on this year’s fair can do so via the official website www.applebyfair.org or by writing to me at Eden District Council."

The largest annual policing operation in Cumbria also worked well. A total of 106 people were arrested at the event during the whole week. The majority of those arrested were suspected of possessing offensive weapons, being drunk and disorderly, behaving violently or possessing illegal drugs. The number of arrests is an increase on the 2008 figure of 65.

Thirty four of the people arrested were taken into custody for questioning in connection with a large scale fight on the show field at 5am on Sunday June 7th. All have been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

Over 100 whips were seized during the Fair and, similarly, over 100 Fixed Penalty Notices were issued for a variety of traffic and low level public disorder offences.

Chief Superintendent Steve Johnson, north Cumbria’s most senior police officer, said:

"Our policing operation was planned to provide firm and fair enforcement of the law and proactively tackle incidents and issues at an early stage to prevent any large scale violence or disorder. Our priorities were set by the local community and balanced with the needs of the Gypsy and Traveller communities who attended the event.

"The number of arrests was up on previous years, which was due to our proactive style of policing. We specifically targeted the minority of people who were intent on causing trouble, and seized a large number of offensive weapons and items that could have been used as weapons in the wrong hands.

"We were determined to protect the majority and create a safe environment for visitors to enjoy, and allow local people to go about their business with as little disruption as possible.

"The fact that we removed so many weapons from the street undoubtedly made the event safer, and demonstrates the importance of the scale of policing operation we conducted. By working so closely with other agencies we were able to pool our resources and enforcement powers and we intend to use this approach again next year, putting into practice everything we have learned over the past week."

Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service attended 8 fire related incidents in the vicinity of Appleby during the fair, these were all brought to a safe and successful conclusion. The service also carried out several multi-agency visits to licensed premises, offering advice and guidance to landlords. Its community safety staff attended on the busiest days of the Fair, offering advice and guidance in all aspects of fire safety, including fire safety in caravans.

The RSPCA reported a successful operation in keeping instances of animal suffering low. The Society doubled the number of inspectors attending to 20, plus three chief inspectors and a vet. They were supported by four field officers from World Horse Welfare (formerly The International League For The Protection Of Horses), three vets provided by Redwings Horse Sanctuary and a further vet provided by The Donkey Sanctuary.

Around 1,500 horses are bought and sold at the fair, and over 25 warnings were given during the course of the fair, mainly for overworking horses on the ‘flashing lane’.

The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS) attended far fewer incidents overall compared with 2008. For the first day of the fair (Thursday) NWAS saw a 50 per cent increase in calls when comparing 2009 with 2008, however this increase was in the minor non-life threatening call category.

The following days were quieter than last year, significantly on the Sunday when NWAS experienced less than half the number of calls for serious-life threatening incidents and on the Monday 90 per cent less calls for serious life-threatening incidents.

NHS Cumbria distributed leaflets providing advice and information on childhood immunisation and swine flu to fairgoers. Public health teams were also on hand to provide health advice.

The traffic management plan in the town also worked well again this year and provided the right balance between pedestrian safety and the need to be able get around. Some disruption during the Fair is inevitable, but agencies worked to keep this to a minimums. Four portable electronic warning signs were deployed along the A66 by the Highways Agency to warn drivers about slow horse-drawn vehicles and traffic flows were also monitored by additional mounted cameras.

An education programme on gypsy and traveller history and culture run by Cumbria County Council and the Education on the Hoof project also received good feedback. Before the Fair, education sessions were held in a number of primary and secondary schools as well as through the University of Cumbria. During the Fair itself, Centre 67 in Appleby ran a range of well-attended sessions. Cumbria County Council's children’s services department provided activities to engage with young people and discussed issues with parents. The Travellers Truck provided support and engaged with the younger gypsies and travellers.

Turnout in the local elections held on Thursday June 4th totalled 42% in Appleby -which was above the Cumbrian average and a measure of the success of the promotion of postal voting prior to the Fair. 

The information that people have been receiving about the Fair has also been far better than ever before. The official website www.applebyfair.org - which has information for local residents, Gypsies and Travellers, other day visitors and traders - has attracted nearly 600,000 hits since its launch on April 16th 2009. Traffic to the website has hit its highest level in the days immediately prior to the Fair, peaking on the first day of the Fair (June 4) with 54,000 hits in a single day.

Billy Welch, a Gypsy representative on the MASCG, said: "The feedback I got from fellow Gypsies and Travellers was that they were very pleased with the new arrangements for running the Fair. Now that people know how the Fair is being handled, it should run even smoother next year as they'll know where they can go in the run-up to the Fair and when they'll be allowed into Appleby. It was good to see an increased presence from the likes of the police, the RSPCA and the councils. Only a tiny minority of people resent the Fair being controlled more - 99 per cent of people thought they did a brilliant job."

In the picture at the top. Chief Superintendent Steve Johnson is with a display of some of the weapons seized during Appleby Fair. The fact that these items were seized shows the value of the proactive policing operation and undoubtedly made Appleby Fair a safer event.

Also above is a photo of some of the counterfeit goods seized by Trading Standards. The goods are being loaded onto a lorry to be sent to International Aid Trust, where they will be debranded and sent to charities in Eastern Europe. More pictures are available on request.

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