APPLEBY Horse Fair is underway as hundreds of travellers make their way to the annual event.

Visitors from the Gyspy, Roma and Travelling community have been arriving in huge numbers in Cumbria for the week-long fair's first full day.

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Some owners rode their horses into the River Eden for a dip as part of an Appleby tradition.

The washing of horses dates back hundreds of years when animals were cleaned ready for selling.

Traffic jams snaked towards the fair with long delays into the The Sands village.

Around 40,000 people are due at the fair over the next next seven days.

Travellers rode traditional horse and bow top carts along country roads towards the site.

Last year's fair was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic, but huge crowds have descended on the area this year.

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It is the biggest traditional Gypsy fair in Europe and attracts around 20,000 Gypsies and Travellers .

Some 10,000 caravans and 30,000 visitors also gathered for the week-long festival, which is usually held in June.

Families from all over the country have made their way towards the fair.

Head Gypsy Billy Welch told the horse fair is "a great opportunity to catch up...we've not seen each other in two years".

You forget how precious normality is. This fair is the beginning of normality

Head Gypsy Billy Welch

He added: "You forget how precious normality is. This fair is the beginning of normality."

But he said one of the fields people where normally camped had been sprayed with cow manure and sealed off with boulders, which he branded "disgusting and disgraceful".

Police were called after locals claimed threats were made against them by those attending the fair.

RSPCA officer Rob Malloy said they had a team of about 30 to make sure all animals were safe.

He said: "In terms of horses, that is making sure people don't overuse them, that occasionally happens."

The fair originated in the 1770s on Gallows Hill where sheep, cattle and horse dealers went to sell their stock.

By the 1900s it had evolved into an event for Gypsies and Travellers.

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