A mobile bar or beer tent could be erected in the Kirkby Stephen area during the run-up to Appleby Horse Fair to cater for the annual influx of Gypsies and Travellers making their way to the historic event in June.
As a number of pubs in Kirkby Stephen had decided they were going to close their doors in the run-up to this year’s horse fair — leaving just the town’s Sports and Social Club in operation — contingency plans are being looked into.
Westmorland and Furness Council licensing officer Steve Wilde said a pop-up beer tent or mobile bar would only be put in place if it was deemed that the town’s sole open licensed premises was going to be “over-run” and the expected capacity was going to be too much for it to handle.
Discussions had, however, taken place with the chairman of the Kirkby Stephen Pubwatch group to see if they would be interested in putting something in place, such as a mobile bar or a beer tent.
“We have had these discussions, but basically we would have to operate under a temporary event notice, which means we would need at the very least five clear working days for a temporary event notice to go in. It is a major headache. The council does not put pressure on premises to open or to close, it is entirely the choice of the premises,” said Mr Wilde.
“But in the lead-up to the fair, if it looks like that this is going to be an issue and there are a number of Travellers who are going to be in the area then certainly a few weeks before we may consider taking further action.”
