Gypsy gathering on Yarm Road prompts complaints from the public - Yorkshire

From the Northern Echo

POLICE say that an organised Gypsy gathering on Yarm Road passed off without major incident, despite complaints from the public.

The event centred around The Wheatsheaf pub on Monday and saw scores of Gypsies descend on the area, with some trotting their horses up and down Yarm Road.

Darlington Police were told of the gathering beforehand and officers were stationed at the pub throughout the afternoon.

No arrests were made but some members of the public have since taken to social networking sites to complain to the police about the event, with one user describing the gathering as a "disgrace".

Darlington’s neighbourhood policing team inspector Dave Barker said that officers worked with the travelling community to ensure that there was no trouble.

He added: “There were a few issues with parking, but there was no racing of horses.

“The travelling community were showing off their horses, whether they were buying and selling I don’t know, but they were showing them off.

“There was some trotting up the road; that isn’t illegal and it is their right to use the highway.

“It was my intention that we should step in if there was blatant disregard for other road users.”

Insp Barker said that officers had to intervene when “a small scuffle” broke out amongst the gypsies and that some residents and businesses had complained to councillors about the gathering.

He added: “There were no arrests made, it was pretty much a successful operation considering we had fairly short notice.

“The travelling community worked with us to make sure that the event was largely self-policed.”