VISIBLE POLICING IN BRIGG FOR HORSE FAIR 2018 WAS JUST WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTED TO SEE

Many people in Brigg were really pleased to see a very visible police presence in the town centre at the weekend.
Brigg Blog saw SIX officers patrolling Wrawby Street together soon after 11pm on Saturday (August 4).
But officers had been in evidence for several days prior to that - in the build-up to Brigg Horse Fair 2018.
The officers we observed at the horse fair itself were taking a Softy, Softly approach (remember that TV series?), which is just what was needed.
People knew they were in attendance, and that was the important thing in ensuring good behaviour.
Later, someone took a wonderful picture of a police officer aboard one of the travellers' horse-drawn buggies as it was driven along Wrawby Street, near to Wetherspoon's White Horse pub.
The officer was giving a cheery wave to the camera, in an image later posted on Twitter.
It summed the mood up nicely.
Another social media post indicated that one business made free refreshments available to visiting police, which was a nice touch on a hot day.
The senior officer who decided to re-introduce such a visible presence in Brigg before, during and after the horse fair deserves a large pat on the back.
Brigg Blog has been trying to remember when we last saw so many police on our streets  at a weekend (excluding very rare major incidents).
We think it might have been during the early 1980s when Chief Inspector Bill Horsfield was in charge of the then Brigg & Barton sub-division of Humberside Police. An apt surname, in this context.
Some Brigg pubs posted security staff at their entrances on Saturday night.
From 8pm until late we visited the Yarborough Hunt, the Britannia (twice), the Woolpack and the Dying Gladiator but didn't observe any problems in these hostelries or their adjoining beer gardens.
Locals, and visitors here for the fair, were in good spirits and enjoying themselves, though there were reports of a horse being taken inside one hostelry.
We saw some steeds in the Market Place but not inside any licensed premises.
It will be interesting to see whether Brigg Horse Fair 2019 - on August 5 next year - sees a similar approach adopted by the police.
Hopefully, from time to time over the coming months, the force might look to repeat the Saturday night patrols that went down so well with law-abiding members of the public at the weekend.
Brigg Blog's picture above shows a couple of officers at Saturday's horse fair.
We have asked Humberside Police whether it will grant permission for us to post the picture of the officer on the buggy near the White Horse. It's not our copyright so we can but ask. Should permission be granted, we'll share it with you.