Police in Kirkcaldy have praised members of the public for their conduct while attending this year’s Links Market.
One of the town’s leading officers has told The Courier that just three arrests were made throughout the six day carnival, which concluded on Monday.
In the region of 120,000 visitors descended on the town’s Esplanade for the event in what is one of the highlights of the Fife entertainment calendar.
However, despite the large number of visitors, Inspector Callum Winton told The Courier that the behaviour of those attending this year’s funfair had been exceptional.
He said: “A security company patrol the inside of the Market and we patrol the outskirts, letting the public know that we’re there if there are any disorder issues.
“We’ve worked very well together and we’d like to thank the public for their attendance and their good behaviour.
“It’s fairly typical on a Friday or Saturday night that a lot of youths are attending from outwith the area, so we had officers at the bus depots and train stations and alcohol was getting seized.
“We think there has been around 20 litres of alcohol seized in the area of the Market itself.
“It’s been a very successful event that we’ve had and we would like to thank the public again for their part in that.”
Working with other local agencies, including Fife Council and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, a joint control room was established in Kirkcaldy’s Town House to allow operations to be coordinated throughout the six-day event.
At its busiest times up to 14 police personnel were on patrol within the surrounding area of the Links Market in a bid to prevent any disorder.
But as the stall owners packed away their attractions yesterday after another bumper year, Inspector Winton said that this year’s event had been one of the best from a policing point of view.
“Disorder is probably our biggest challenge, but this year has been exceptional with just three arrests,” he added.
“We had a joint control room established at Fife House and if any trouble was spotted we could get resources straight to it.
“The majority of local residents obviously know that the Market is coming up and there has been no concerns raised with myself from them.”
