THE clean-up operation following this week's Stow fair got under way today (Friday) amid calls for a re-think about the way the event is run.

The hundreds of gipsies attending this year's October fair yesterday (Thursday) shunned the field off Maugersbury Lane in which it is normally held because of a court injunction banning them from camping in it overnight.

Instead they set up caravans and stalls along the length of Maugersbury Lane forcing it to close to traffic from both ends.

Although police reported no major incidents, residents of the Maugersbury Lane and Park areas of Stow faced diversions via the Fosseway to gain access to their properties and traffic congestion was worse than normal with horses and fair-goers spilling into Oddington Road and Park Street.

Earlier this week town council chairman Vera Norwood called on the gipsies and local authorities to put their heads together to ensure next May's fair could be held in a suitable venue.