The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) has given fair warning that it will be taking measures to stamp out alcohol-fuelled antisocial behaviour at its flagship event, The Royal Highland Show.
This year’s event saw problems emerging at the Herdsman’s Bar with police called to calm down the situation.
RHASS chief executive Stephen Hutt said: “We have been successful over the last number of years in attracting larger audiences from both urban and rural communities. Our responsibility therefore has to be to deliver a safe event for everyone and we simply cannot have visitors put off by incidents of anti-social behaviour.”
With around 187,000 visitors attending Ingliston over the four-day Royal Highland Show in June it is easy to see the potential for even a small number of alcohol-related problems to cause reputational damage.
RHASS chairman Willie Gill revealed that a working group involving a wide range of stakeholders, including directors, exhibitors, security staff and police had already met and would continue to convene regularly in coming months with a view to announcing its decisions by January.
There are no specific proposals at present but consideration is apparently being given to changes to licensed premises and improving monitoring and security across the showground.
Fingers have been pointed in the past at a group loosely described as “young farmers” and more lately to visiting stag parties interested only in easy access to alcohol but no doubt the working group will be able to more closely identify where the problems lie.