Police broke up three bare knuckle brawls at Appleby Horse Fair yesterday.

Officers were called to a fight at Market Field on Friday afternoon and arrested a 16-year-old man from Lancaster with public order offences.

He is due to appear in Carlisle Magistrates Court on June 21.

Police were able to disrupt the fight before anyone was injured.

On the same day officers also managed to disrupt two other gatherings where bare knuckle fights started to take place.

ACC Jerry Graham continued: “Those who want to get involved in violence and disorder are not welcome at Appleby Fair.

"We will not stand by and watch any form of violence take place or allow people to get hurt – so if there are a minority of people who are planning to cause trouble they will be dealt with robustly, so that fairgoers can enjoy themselves safely."

Earlier this year Irish Traveller and star of Channel 4’s documentary series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Paddy Doherty, threatened to fight Johnny Joyce in a £100,000 prize boxing match.

There were plans to stage the fight infront of a crowd of 4000 at Appleby Horse Fair but promoters have since called off the event.