Outrage after police spend whopping £1.4m on biker festival security 'to ensure people are safe'

Organisers of the Bulldog Bash 2008 described the 'over-the-top' security measures as a 'waste of public money'.

But Warwickshire Police said the extra road closures and stop and searches were necessary following the death of Hell's Angel Gerry Tobin last year.

Police have defended their decision to spend £1.4m on policing the annual Bulldog Bash Festival

Mr Tobin, 35, was shot on the M40 motorway as he left the festival in Long Marston, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, on August 12.

Warwickshire's Assistant Chief Constable, Bill Holland, said the police operation would cover all routes into the area, and would therefore cost more than the £100,000 spent last year.

He said: 'The policing operation is designed primarily to deter people who may be intending to disrupt the event or to attack people going to and from the event.

Gerry Tobin was gunned down on the M40 as he rode home from the Bulldog Bash bikers' festival last year

'With something like this we are dealing with criminal intelligence. We also have to use professional judgment and my judgment was that we needed to run this operation to ensure people are safe.'

Warwickshire Police had objected to Stratford District Council's decision to grant the Bulldog Bash organisers a licence this year.

The force believed the four-day event, which begins tomorrow, could compromise public safety.

Festival organiser John Britt, known as Bilbo, said the police operation was a 'knee-jerk reaction'  to being overruled by the council.

'This is one of the safest shows in Europe,' he said. 'The police operation is over-the-top and unjustified and is a hassle for the local people.

'£1.4 million seems an awful lot of money. The general public in the district are amazed about the work the police are putting into this. I think it's a gross waste of local people's money.'

He said he had not been consulted on the police's extra security measures surrounding the site.

Councillor Brian Slaughter, from Stratford District Council, said: 'I am disappointed that the police have taken this action.

'The local people are amazed at the expense the police are going to. It seems like an awful lot of money.'

Mr Holland said security outside the site was the responsibility of police while the organisers took control inside the event.

He said there were other motorcycle-related incidents which had occurred across the country since Mr Tobin's death which had impacted on the force's decision to step up security.

Around 20,000 are expected to attend the Bulldog Bash festival.

All motorway and cross-country routes to the festival will be policed and other UK forces will also playing a role in the operation, Mr Holland said.

Organisers will pay a small part of the £1.4 million but the bulk will be paid for by police, he added.

Several men are due to stand trial on October 2 in connection with the Mr Tobin's murder.