Gypsies fail to travel to Warwickshire Police community event

Jun 28 2009 by Jasbir Authi, Sunday Mercury

IT COULD have been a typical English country fete, with families gathering outside a grand old hall on manicured grounds in the sunshine.

But this was a party with a difference.

Warwickshire Police had invited travellers and the local community to the get-together to improve relations – and were controversially footing the £2,000 bill.

Pre-event publicity promised bouncy castles, traditional bands, storytelling and dancing for all at the force HQ in Leek Wootton, near Warwick.

Yet all the scores of visitors got was the promised inflatable, some tinny recorded music, free food, history and cultural board displays – and a lollipop.

Travellers seemed few and far between and there was just one traditional Romany caravan on display – without the horse.

Excuses for the lack of attractions and gipsies ranged from people flocking to the Cambridge Midsummer Fair, hostile press coverage about the event and a lack of organising time.

Eileen Singleton, a 58-year-old retired precision engineer, had travelled from Coventry, with her husband and daughter.

She said: “We decided to come after hearing about the event on the news.

‘‘There’s one lovely caravan, but that’s it. There’s not a lot else.

“I got a free lollipop and we saw the bouncy castle – but we are not that young.