Stubbington Green Runners

HAMPSHIRE Constabulary has had a change of heart over charging for policing running events in the county.

The move has been welcomed by clubs, who feared the police policy of charging for attending races would hit hard, and could force some smaller races out of existence.

Hampshire police have now said they will cancel the fees for those events requiring less than 24 hours policing time, in line with the nationally agreed Association of Chief Police Officers' Policy.

Supt Ann Wakefield said: "It's designed for the big public events that are run by businesses that are profit making. It's not designed for the community events."

Organisers of last weekend's B&Q Eastleigh 10km Road Race had been facing a police bill running into hundreds of pounds to control an event which attracts more than 1,000 runners and also raises money for the Mayor of Eastleigh's charities.

However, because of the small number of police hours involved, the organisers will now not be charged. At Sunday's race, the organisers said they welcomed the news, but that they would still be making a donation to the Police Benevolent Fund.

The Stubbington 10km Road Race has also received the same news. Stubbington Green Runners were anticipating being charged for January's race around the streets of Stubbington, Lee-on-the-Solent and parts of Gosport, but were informed last week that there will be no payment.

The club will be having a meeting with police next week to clarify the situation for next year's event. A spokesman said: "This is good news. We received a note from Hampshire Police which said they had looked at the Association of Chief Police Officers policy. The number of police hours used for our race, which came to 15 hours, fell under the minimum level of 24 man hours.

"This is not a climbdown or a concession by the police, but a sensible application of the guidelines, which we welcome and which we are grateful for.

"Races like ours are not money-making events. They are about providing, with the help of the police, St John Ambulance, police and our own club volunteers, a well organised race and we are able to make a substantial donation to local charities as a result."

John Marsh, chairman of the Hampshire Road Race League, welcomed the news, and said he would be keen to have talks with Hampshire Police over the charging policy. He did not rule out the need for clubs to make some contribution to police for attending races in the future.

He said: "Road running has always had a good relationship with the police and it needs to continue.

"Some sort of dialogue between the police and the county governing body would help to see their point of view and ours. We need to know what we can do to help them on a county basis, rather than at a race to race basis, so that it can become standard practice.

"We hope the recent events are now behind us and we can continue our good relationship with the police."

Mr Marsh said that the Hampshire Road Race League were not against the principle of charging but they were upset at the way they were brought in and the huge amounts involved - stretching into thousands of pounds for some road races.

"We need to discuss with the police what can be a reasonable across the board charge which is acceptable to all involved," he added.

Also benefiting from the change of heart are charities and community groups in Hampshire.

Eastleigh Carnival organiser Penny Alford said: "It was a nice surprise and a great relief. We all cheered when we heard.

"It was going to cost about £1,000 - and that was at half price. Had they charged that, we would have been able to give less money to charity."

The news was also welcomed by West End Parish Council chairman, Neville Dickinson, who said charging could have placed a question mark against the local carnival festivities.

Mr Dickinson said: "It secures the future of our carnival."

Article courtesy of the Southern Daily Echo.