Overview
- The week‑long Appleby Horse Fair, running June 4 to June 10, has seen Cumbria Police use live facial recognition for the first time as part of a larger policing operation.
- Police sent warning letters before the fair citing Section 35 dispersal powers and said recipients who ignore orders could be removed or arrested.
- Officers carried out pre‑fair enforcement that included seizing four stolen vehicles and, on the fair’s opening day, a joint police and trading‑standards operation seized counterfeit goods and realistic‑looking air weapons.
- Cumbria Police say the LFR cameras compare real‑time images to a secure, event‑specific watchlist and that every alert is checked by an operator and then visually confirmed by officers before any approach.
- Local councils and a multi‑agency team have enforced road closures, closed car parks, set up temporary stop‑over areas and run street‑cleaning and animal‑welfare patrols during the 250th Appleby gathering that draws thousands of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller attendees.