Cumbria Police have seized 99 pyramid rings en route to Appleby Horse Fair and plan to destroy them, after raising concerns that similar items have been used to cause significant injury to people
Police are poised to destroy several dozen pyramid rings confiscated in an early morning raid after highlighting how similar items were “used to cause significant injury to people”.
Cumbria Police revealed this morning that officers had confiscated 99 rings heading to the Appleby Horse Fair in Appleby, Westmorland and Furness, during a 1am operation yesterday (Friday, June 5). The force released a photograph of the seizure, displaying the rings made up of a gold band crowned with a pyramid, and warned they could be used to inflict harm.
In a statement, the commander overseeing the Appleby Horse Fair, which runs between June 4 and 10 this year, praised “proactive work to keep people from all communities safe”.
Dan St Quintin, Cumbria police’s Gold Commander for Appleby Horse Fair, said: “This is another example of our officers carrying out proactive work to keep people from all communities safe. There have been numerous examples around the country of such rings being used to cause significant injury to people so I welcome the fact we have been able to seize these items and have them destroyed before they are made available for sale.”
The raid marks the latest since the fair kicked off last week, reports the Mirror. On Thursday (June 4), the opening day, officers confiscated counterfeit goods and air weapons in a joint operation between Cumbria police and Westmorland and Furness Trading Standards.
The seizure was carried out after officers intercepted a van heading towards the fair’s trading grounds, with the lifelike weapons discovered alongside BB pellets.
Police revealed that amongst the confiscated items were vapes, children’s toys and perfumes, with Det Supt St Quintin vowing that officers, working with trading standards, would be keeping a close eye on the fair.
In a hard-hitting statement, the commander made it clear that anyone attempting to bring knives or “imitation firearms” into the fair would be “ejected from the area”.
He said: “Police and Trading Standards will be working closely during the event. Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to bring items such as air weapons, imitation firearms, knives or other such items to sell at the event can expect to have such goods seized and be ejected from the area.”
Catherine Hornby, Trading Standards manager for Westmorland and Furness Council, added: “We’re pleased that this successful joint operation with the police, working on shared intelligence from outside the area, has prevented counterfeit goods from reaching the market fields at Appleby Horse Fair and resulted in the seizure of a number of unsafe items.”
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