In spite of this statement from Lancashire Constabulary, this is not the message that two representatives of the Coconutters were given at a meeting with the police and Lancs County Council a week ago, according to those two dancers.

Until 2013, the Coconutters did take responsibility in the way that the police are requesting. They have a Risk Assessment document and a Traffic management document. The previous year, 2012, at one point in the day, the police suddenly decided that they, and not the Nutters stewards, would take control. This was in spite of the fact that (a) the police officers were from out of town and did not know or understand the custom and (b) the police officers on the ground had not read, or even seen, the risk assessment and traffic management documents.

The police inspectors and county council officials were conspicuous by their absence in Bacup on Easter Saturday in 2013. The police had taken full responsibility for traffic management and safety, yet complained to the Coconutters (in the debrief a week ago, almost 8 months after the event) that spectators stood in the road. Well, who was to blame for that?

We know that the police are tight on resources (there is a wider question about why that is ...) and I am sure the Nutters will take all advice offered by the Police. But at the meeting last week, the police were adamant that the customary Easter Saturday dancing would not take place in the future.

Derek Schofield