Bulldog Bash policing relaxed

OFF THE
Bulldog Bash policing relaxed
Jun 26 2010 by Jasbir Authi, Birmingham Mail
Add a commentRecommend POLICE have ditched controversial security measures which sparked outrage at the Bulldog Bash bike and music show.

The assistant chief constable of Warwickshire Police, Bill Holland, announced there would be no road closures and massive stop and searches.

The tactics were last year attacked by festival-goers and residents living near the festival venue, the Shakespeare County Raceway, near Stratford-upon-Avon. Security was dramatically stepped up after Hells Angels biker Gerry Tobin was shot dead on the M40 as he rode home from the Bulldog Bash in 2007.

Seven members of rival bike gang Outlaws were later jailed over Mr Tobin’s murder. Police tried to close the event down after other incidents including a riot at Birmingham Airport and several violent incidents abroad.

Mr Holland said the policing operation at this year’s Bulldog Bash, which takes place from August 12 to 15, would be “intelligence led” and visitors would no longer be funnelled into a lay-by to be searched first.

He said: “We’ve listened to the views of residents.

“While we will continue to take steps to prevent, detect and deter criminality around the event, we shall be policing the Bulldog Bash differently this year.

There will be a significant policing operation but it will be less rigid with no permanent road closures. A spokesman for the Bash, which attracts around 50,000 visitors a year, said they “welcomed a return to sensible policing”. He said: “The huge operations over the last two years have cost Warwickshire taxpayers £1 million, resulted in just a handful of arrests and have caused chaos for showgoers and villagers.

“They also discouraged Bash visitors from going out into the area and boosting the economy.

“Local people considered, and we agreed, that these operations were unnecessary.

“We welcome a return to the type of policing that worked well for the first 20 years of the show.

“We look forward to working closely with the police to ensure another safe and successful Bash.”