How Cheltenham fought back against drunken chaos

With punters descending for race week, Alex Ross joins police officers cracking down on antisocial behaviour

- Alex Ross

It’s gone 10.30pm, more than four hours since Daily Present snatched victory in the final race of St Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham Festival, and the pubs in the town centre are alive with drunken revelry.

Along a pedestrianised strip squeezed between two packed bars, inebriated punters jostle in the cold as Irish music is blasted out when suddenly a scuffle breaks out. Punches are thrown and two men are bundled out of Copa bar in front of passing police officers before one decides to make a quick getaway, fleeing on foot and appearing to get away from a chasing policeman.

But thanks to police radio and a CCTV operative, a swarm of officers quickly arrest the young man on suspicion of assault just a few hundred yards away.

It’s the third night of festival race week, and the force is prepared with a night-time economy operation including 35 officers spread across foot patrols and three van units. They are joined by more officers specifically targeting sexual offences, a horseback team and “special ops” units in unmarked vehicles.

“Festival week brings in more people into the town, some of whom have drunk too much, and that brings a rise in incidents – we are here to deal with the antisocial behaviour and ensure others can have an enjoyable night,” Inspector Ross Fidoe tells The Independent.