Police are set to destroy several dozen pyramid rings seized in an early morning bust after citing how similar trinkets were “used to cause significant injury to people”.
Cumbria Police said this morning that officers had seized 99 rings en route to the Appleby Horse Fair in Appleby, Westmorland and Furness, during a 1am operation yesterday. The force shared a picture of the haul, showing the rings composed of a gold band topped with a pyramid, and said they could be used to cause harm.
In a statement, the commander in charge of the Appleby Horse Fair, which takes place between June 4 and 10 this year, hailed “proactive work to keep people from all communities safe”.
View 3 ImagesThe rings were seized as they could be used to cause harm, police said(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
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 bust is the latest since the fair began last week.
On Thursday, the first day, officers seized counterfeit goods and air weapons in a joint operation between Cumbria police and Westmorland and Furness Trading Standards.
View 3 ImagesPolice have said officers will be closely monitoring the fair(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
The bust was made after a van was stopped en route to the fair’s trading fields, and the realistic weapons were recovered along with BB pellets. Among the items, police said, were vapes, children’s toys and perfumes, with Det Supt St Quintin pledging that police, alongside trading standards, would be monitoring the fair.
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In a strongly worded statement, the commander warned that anyone who attempted 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.”