Bank Holiday Horse Fair between Wollaston and Great Doddington cancelled

A traditional traveller horse fair that was to be held on land close to Summer Leys Nature Reserve, between Great Doddington and Wollaston, has been cancelled by the Milton Keynes organisers.

The event promised to be 'the last horse fair of the summer' and advertised food stalls as well as a three-day long display of horses and ponies.

Similar events across the country including the famous Appleby Horse Fair and ones in Nottingham and Wickham have all been cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.

A spokesman for the event said: "We had to cancel the event because of the Covid-19 situation.

"We are hoping to reschedule for next year. It will be a traditional traveller weekend with horse-drawn wagons like at Appleby.

"We were told by the police and the council to cancel it."

Dating back hundreds of years, horse fairs allow many Gypsy and Traveller people to trade horses and get together to share their love of all things equine.

A statement issued by Wellingborough Council said: "The borough council is aware of recent adverts for a Horse Fair over the forthcoming bank holiday weekend. The event organiser has not approached the council to discuss the proposed event, nor made any application for licensable or other activities.

"Council officers are currently liaising with colleagues at Northamptonshire Police, and we understand Northamptonshire Police have in turn had some contact with the event organiser.

"The borough council would not support an unauthorised or unlicensed event taking place and will be working with the police and the event organiser to this effect."

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: "We fully support their statement and will be working together to prevent unlicensed events from taking place."

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