AN organiser of this year’s Haworth 1940s Weekend spoke about the pressures on her and her colleagues following criticism of the event.

Andrea Leathley, who said she was verbally and physically assaulted while enforcing a road closure at the weekend, said factors behind some complaints had been out of the organisers’ control.

“We’re volunteers and we work hard to stage the weekend,” she said. Mrs Leathley was reacting to concerns raised at a meeting of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council.

Responding to comments about explosions at the battle re-enactment, she said: “We sent letters to residents close to where the re-enactment was going to take place, and included warnings about pets.

“We spoke to people in neighbouring properties and phoned a farmer who had young cattle near the re-enactment site.”

She accepted the weekend is seen by some as an opportunity to drink heavily and this was why it was decided not to have a beer tent in the park.

Mrs Leathley said a bar in the parsonage car park was properly controlled, and there were no drink related problems at the evening dances.

“Our own event ran from 8.30am to 6pm on both days and there were no arrests or trouble between those times,” she stressed.

“I recommended to Bradford Council that the pubs have bouncers on their doors for the weekend, but I don’t have the authority myself to tell pubs to do this. It looks like the trouble happened in the evenings, after our event was finished.”

She acknowledged the fairground had modern rides, which people may have felt did not blend in with the vintage theme and said the size of the weekend meant it was time for Bradford Council to play a more active role in supporting it.

Mrs Leathley said the assault against her was now a police matter.

A Bradford Council spokesman responded: “This is a great event and volunteers work very hard to make it so. As with every outdoor event in our district the council makes stipulations of organisers. There’s a clear process to follow.

“Council officers will take part in a debrief of this year’s 1940s Weekend and will be happy to support volunteers in their event planning in future.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Officers are continuing to investigate an assault reported to have happened during the event at 10.30am on May 20.”