TRAVELERS have lined the roads to Appleby with their caravans as they prepare for the controversial horse fair.

The annual Cumbrian fair attracts 10,000 travelers and gypsies who come to trade livestock and race horses.

Even though the event doesn’t start until today, scores of caravans have been captured stationed on the grass of the A685 near Appleby-in-Westmorland, the U.K.

The infamous fair, which has attracted complaints in the past, will see an added security presence this year and a restriction on caravan numbers.

Last year’s event was the scene of a violent attack on a 66-year-old grandfather called Patrick.

He revealed how he thought he was moments from death when he was dragged from his car and brutally beaten by travelers after he accidentally hit a toddler at Appleby Horse Fair.

Patrick, a local shop owner, accidentally hit the 3-year-old boy, who lived in an unofficial traveler site, when he ran out in front of his car.

The boy was left with a broken arm.

Patrick was then dragged from his vehicle and beaten up by a group of men who left him with broken vertebrae, black eyes and a bruised head, neck, spleen, liver and kidney.

He believed he was going to be killed, but that a passing off-duty policeman saved his life.

The annual fair, which has been running since 1775, is held by travelers and gypsies.

(SD-Agencies)