Appleby Horse Fair: Gypsies and travellers gather for postponed spectacle

Many of those attending the fair arrive in traditional bow-top wagons

Gypsies and travellers are arriving at Appleby in Cumbria as the annual horse fair gets under way.

Tens of thousands are expected at the event, which is normally held in June but was postponed this year, and cancelled in 2020, due to the pandemic.

Some businesses in the town have decided to close over fears the fair may prompt a rise in Covid cases.

Organisers say pop-up clinics are being made available for those who have not yet been vaccinated.

It is traditional for horses to be washed in the River Eden

Appleby Horse Fair is one of Europe's largest gatherings for members of the Gypsy, Romany and travelling communities and has only been postponed twice in its 250-year history.

Mary Nicholson has spent 10 days travelling to the fair from Wakefield in West Yorkshire

Les Clark, deputy chief executive of Eden District Council, said despite people's fears over the spread of coronavirus, it was the right that the gathering should go ahead.

"We could either wrap around that support, like we normally do, or we let things happen unplanned and ad hoc, which would be very difficult to control," he said.

The gathering is a traditional Gypsy fair, centred around showing and trading horses

Traffic has been queuing up in the town as more visitors arrive