A CLASH between circus owners and animal rights activists resulted in police being called to the first night of Bobby Roberts Circus in Evesham on Tuesday.

Police were called at about 6.40pm as the Captive Animals Protection Society were protesting against the presence of an elephant in the troupe at the time when the audience was arriving.

Evesham's beat manager Paul Adams said there were no arrests: "We attended to prevent a breach of the peace after being called by the circus," he said.

The animal rights members want the public to boycott the Bobby Roberts Circus, which will be on Corporation Meadow in Evesham until Sunday.

The circus owners have hit back at allegations, saying the elephant is now retired from performing and kept as a pet, only being used to pose for photographs.

Wychavon District Council has ruled that the animal should be kept out of sight while the circus is in town as a condition of leasing the meadow.

Spokesman for the protestors Craig Redmond said: "The human performers can choose to be there, the animals have no choice.

By their very nature circuses cannot provide all of the space and necessary requirements to guarantee the well-being of animals."

He added that it was wrong to keep a lone elephant because they were intelligent creatures that needed company.

Bobby Roberts, owner of the family-run circus dismissed the protestors' claims. "Annie is 51-years-old and she has been with me since she was four, until recently as part of a group of elephants.

"She is much loved and will be with the circus until the end of her days.

"She is now retired and no longer performs - in fact, it upsets her that she is no longer allowed in the ring. At other venues we allow the public to have photographs taken with her but the people of Evesham will not be allowed to see her."

He also said that Annie had formed attachments with the other animals in the circus and was not lonely, or distressed by travel.

He added that the vast majority of acts in the two-hour show did not involve animals. "The animal acts only amount to ten percent of a very packed show." Other acts include a strongman who walks on glass, ninja acrobats, trapeze artists and clowns.

6 Bobby Roberts of Bobby Roberts Circus with Anne the Indian Elephant in Evesham. Picture by STUART PURFIELD dc6126-b