It cost more than £250,000 of public money for Cumbria to host the annual Appleby Horse Fair and 2019 was the most expensive over the last ten years.

The June Fair is the largest gathering in the county and can attract more than 10,000 visitors over its four days and it’s one of the most colourful events held in the region.

The huge influx of people is closely monitored by various groups and organisations who all play a different role.

The Appleby Fair Multi-Agency Strategic Co-ordinating Group (MASCG) was set up to help organise the fair and plays a major part in bringing all views and suggestions together.

This year communities are going to be encouraged to help reduce the public sector spending by putting their own solutions in place to stop the impact temporary stopping has on rural communities.

Chairman of the MASCG Matthew Neal said in a report: “This year fewer concerns about the Fair were raised by residents of Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale.

“There has been positive feedback from Town and Parish Councils of Kirkby Stephen, Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh and other areas.

“There was also positive feedback from members of the public, at MASCG from elected officials and via CAG at Appleby.

“Action Points for 2020, MASCG will consider various approaches to increasing the provision of temporary stopping places so as to reduce the impact of the Fair on rural communities.

“We will also encourage communities to implement their own solutions thereby reducing the cost of the Fair on public sector agencies.”

Cumbria Constabulary spent £115,000 in 2019 this was an increase of almost £10,000 from the year previous.

During the large operation, the force had a dedicated 101 service along with a number of changes to the access along The Sands and changes to the flow of traffic. All horses were required to use the signed diversion routes associated with The Sands road closure

A spokesman for the police said: “Appleby Horse Fair is the biggest policing operation for the Constabulary every year.

“Following on from the 2018 Horse Fair the Constabulary listened to the concerns of residents which included concerns that the event and the period leading up to it were under-resourced

“The Constabulary acted on those concerns and promised to put more resource into the policing of all three phases of the Fair - before, during and after.

“This included not just more officers on the ground but increasing the use of other resources such as CCTV in Appleby and other areas

“However, it is not possible to make these improvements to the way the event is policed without an increase in costs

“The feedback the Constabulary has received – not just in Appleby but areas such as Kirkby Stephen – is that this increase in resourcing was well received and helped mitigate some of the issues of concern from previous years.”