POLICING at a Hampshire horse fair has more than halved in the last two years, figures show.

A freedom of information request made to Hampshire Constabulary shows that the force scaled back their policing operations at the Wickham Horse Fair after latest figures showed a 60% drop in staffing from 168 officers in 2015 to 70 in 2017.

In response to the findings, Hampshire Police said that police numbers had been cut because it was standard practice year to year to seek to reduce costs and forward plan for major events.

Superintendent Ali Heydari, who led the policing at the Wickham Horse Fair this year said:“A lot of time and planning goes into making sure large scale events in Hampshire run smoothly to make them enjoyable for those that attended and disrupt local people as little as possible.

“All events are risk assessed each year and then appropriately policed.

“By doing this and working closely with our partner agencies we have managed to reduce staffing for the Wickham Horse Fair by 59% since 2015 and keep crime at very low levels.

“We believe the fact that there was only one crime reported which was directly connected to the fair, means that we got our planning and staffing for this year’s event about right.”

The RSPCA and Hampshire Constabulary both have a team of officers patrolling the event, which has no formal organiser but attracts hundreds of travellers from all over the country.

Wickham Horse Fair has largely been peaceful in recent years with only one assault recorded by police this year however in previous years, this has not been the case.

In 2013, two families were involved in a mass brawl involving high powered catapults that caused widespread panic and left six people with broken ribs and bones.

Councillor Sean Woodward, the leader of Fareham Borough Council said he was ‘concerned’ at the decision but added: “If Hampshire Police want to reduce police numbers then I can understand as long as they have the ability to bring in back up officers if it proves necessary.”

But councillor Angela Clear, who represents Wickham on Winchester City Council was not aware of any problems adding: “The event has always been very well policed and the event always seems to go off well.”

The event takes place on May 20 every year and can trace its origins back 800 years being one of two horse trading events in the country.

Scroll through the gallery above to see photos of Wickham Horse Fair through the years