POLICING for events across the country has come under the spotlight in recent months after forces started charging for the extra work that fetes, fairs and festivals create.

And although organisers of the Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival were let off the full costs of covering their weekend they still had to pay £115 for officers to man the parade.

I joined the Middlewich CAT team for their patrol on Friday night to see what was involved in covering such an event.

The team, made up of three police officers and one police community support officer (PCSO), was joined by two special constables and an Area Support Group (ASG) of six officers throughout the shift, which ended at 2am.

Although the evening was fairly quiet, officers said it was better to be prepared for any eventuality.

PC Mike Senior, from Middlewich CAT team, said: "Friday night was much quieter than the same night last year.

"We didn't expect any more trouble than last year but it was nice weather so we expected more alcohol related incidents - but there were very few up to 2am and very few after that.

"From a police point of view it was a good Friday night."

The first incident the police were called to was a drunk 15-year-old boy who had consumed a bottle of red wine and collapsed at Fountain Fields park at 8pm.

Police later discovered that the teenager had asked a man in his 30s to buy the wine for him.

PCSO Roger Need said: "We would like to stress to adults that buying alcohol for under 18s is an offence with a £80 fine.

"On top of that it is irresponsible as the youngsters can't cope with the alcohol they are given and it leaves them very vulnerable and they may get into serious trouble."

They later had to move on a group of young adults who had gathered at the Salinae Centre and took one drunken 20-year-old home to her parents.

But the signs of true festival fever only emerged at 1.30am when two women and a man jumped into the Shropshire Union Canal. One of the women injured herself on debris at the bottom of the waterway.

PC Senior added: "I think the policing on Friday had a positive effect because there were no incidents of note.

"There was a large number of police out from early in the evening which put the message across that the police mean business and are going to tackle disorder."