Police jeered over biker festival

Seven men deny murdering Gerry Tobin

Police were jeered as they outlined road closure plans for a £1m operation for a biker festival in Warwickshire.

More than 100 residents attended a meeting on Thursday to discuss the force's tactics for next week's Bulldog Bash at Long Marston airfield.

Officers had urged councillors not to grant a licence for the event, fearing reprisals after the fatal shooting of a man on the nearby M40 last year.

Councillor Mike Brain said residents feel they will be "cut off".

Five roads were to be closed between 0700 BST on 7 August to 2000 BST on 10 August, but a police spokesman said only four will now shut following discussions with residents.

There was a lot of support for the Bulldog Bash from the audience and the police did not have a very nice time of it I have to say Cllr Mike Brain, Stratford-on-Avon District Council

Gerry Tobin, 35, of south-east London, was shot on the M40 after he left the festival last summer.

Seven men deny murdering the 35-year-old, a mechanic from Mottingham, and face trial in October.

When the licence was debated, Warwickshire Police told Stratford-on-Avon District Council there is a long history of gang culture between bikers and they "do not believe public safety can be ensured".

Mr Brain told BBC News that residents are angry at the disruption but members of the audience at Thursday's meeting supported the event.

"They (police) were jeered. There was a lot of support for the Bulldog Bash from the audience and the police did not have a very nice time of it I have to say.

"But, they cannot understand, at such short notice, why they should be inconvenienced and disrupted to this degree with five road closures which will cut communities off basically."

As part of its operation, police will be searching people and registration plate recognition technology will also be used to check vehicles on roads leading to the event.

The roads that will be closed include part of Preston Fields Lane in Clifford Chambers, Station Road in Long Marston, Back Lane in Lower Quinton and Tailors Lane in Upper Quinton.