Police set up mobile cells for drunken revellers at Henley
AS tennis fans sipped their champagne, nibbled their strawberries and cheered politely at Wimbledon yesterday, it was a rather different story at Henley.
Some spectators at the Royal Regatta over-indulged in alcohol and police had to bring in mobile prison cells to keep them out of harm’s way.
Many at the rowing event were seen swigging champagne and beer from the bottle, while some revellers were photographed slumped on the floor. A number of younger visitors needed treatment.
Up to 60 police officers were on duty during the regatta, as around 200,000 people descended on the usually quiet Oxfordshire town for the occasion.
Police also parked a prison van on the banks of the River Thames, capable of holding around half a dozen people at any one time, to use as makeshift jail cells.
It is believed that several arrests were made during the course of the five-day event.
Many spectators also showed little regard for the dress code, which says dresses and skirts should be ‘of modest length’. Many women were wearing barely-there dresses.
The event, which finished yesterday, has been held annually since 1839, except during the two World Wars, and sees rowers go head to head in a series of races.
Alastair Lloyd, a local neighbourhood inspector with Thames Valley Police, insisted that despite the photographs of some of the rowdier visitors, most of those attending this year were on their best behaviour.
He said: ‘The amount of disorder and arrests we’ve had has been very low this year. Everyone has been very well behaved and enjoyed the event.’
Assistant Chief Constable Nicola Ross, who was in charge of the operation, said: ‘People come to Henley to enjoy the rowing and the atmosphere and we’re always happy to welcome them into our town around the regatta.
‘It’s one of the highlights of the year for Henley and our role is to keep disruption to a minimum and make sure that anti-social behaviour doesn’t prevent our visitors and residents from having a good experience.’
Last year 35 arrests were made during the regatta, the majority of which were public order offences.
Before this year’s event, Chief Inspector Graham Hadley had warned that officers would confiscate alcohol from revellers found drinking in the street because in previous years many of the public order offences had been alcohol related.
There were 15 arrests made in 2014 and 26 made in 2013.
It is not yet known how many have been arrested this year, but Inspector Lloyd said the number was ‘very low’.