Revellers enjoyed a peaceful Mop fair in Marlborough at the weekend with a fight between youths swiftly dealt with by police.

On Friday there were large traffic delays around the High Street as the first of the two Mop fairs made its way into town.

Little Mop was officially opened by the mayor of Marlborough, Marian Hannaford-Dobson, and MP Claire Perry on Saturday afternoon, when youngsters took advantage of free rides.

During the opening ceremony Coun Hannaford-Dobson paid tribute to the 68-year-old man from South Wales who died during last year’s Mop fair.

She said: “It’s always a well attended event in the town. The town’s children look forward to it all year.

“There was a lot of traffic coming into the town but the Mop fair has been coming to Marlborough for more than 800 years and that’s never going to change.

“We will be having a wash up meeting with the Showman’s Guild and I am going to ask if it is possible that the road closures always happen at the same time because I think that might help.

“They are always very good and willing to help where they can.”

Last year there were violent clashes involving 40 people at the second Mop fair but tighter policing at this year’s event insured history did not repeat itself.

Sergeant Clare Wallace said: “It went very well. We had a group of youths causing some disorder after the fair had stopped but they were split up before anything could come of it.

“We caught up with them on Sunday and three were given verbal warnings and others will be spoken to throughout the week.

“We will be out at the next Mop fair and if there are any problems robust action will be taken.

“We want everybody to have an enjoyable time in a family-friendly environment and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.”

This is the 811th year that the Mop fairs have taken place, since King John granted the town’s charter of 1204.

Usually the fairs take place on consecutive weekends but this year there will be a two week gap before the big Mop because it is laid down in statute that the two events should take place on either side of October 11.