CUMBRIAN police pulled out the stop signs for the Sweet Chariot tour by giving the Webb Ellis Cup the green light treatment around the county.

The World Cup was given motorcycle escorts by the Cumbria Constabulary as 10,000 people saw the Cup in 60 hours between Barrow, Netherhall, Whitehaven, Carlisle, Kendal and Penrith.

And they even fixed the traffic lights on green so that the Cup could meet its packed schedule of appointments between Thursday and last Saturday, which included a town hall, rugby clubs, community school and shopping centres.

Sgt John Forrester, who provided the escort along with PCs Mark Whitfield and Martin Shuttleworth, said: “We arranged for the traffic lights to be put on manual green to avoid any undue delays. It’s not something we do very often but this was a very valuable load!

“For those of us who were involved it was a great privilege. It was something new for us and we will remember it with fondness.

“From the force’s point of view this was an excellent opportunity to engage with the local community as well as join in the national effort.”

John Owen, the Rugby Football Union’s Council Member for Cumbria, said: “The police did an outstanding job and I can’t thank them enough. Without them we would have been way behind schedule.

“There were some great moments. There were about 2,000 waiting in Carlisle city centre and cheer that went up when the Cup was brought out was very special. I also met some schoolchildren in Barrow who are now going to go down to their local rugby club to find out about rugby.

“It was a fantastic couple of days and hopefully it will help us develop rugby in Cumbria through our cluster club project.”

At the Victorian Gothic Barrow Town Hall, whose last Cup visitor was the FA Trophy the town in 1990, around 1500 turned out, while hundreds queued in the sunshine on Whitehaven Marina.

Tony Cunningham, Workington MP and Secretary of the All Parliamentary Rugby Union Group, attended a rugby festival at the school he once taught – Netherhall School Sports College.

“To see the World Cup here is particularly special but more so to see the smiles on the faces of dozens of kids. This has given a huge lift to the area,” said Cunningham.

Richard Metcalf, Cumbria’s Rugby Development Officer, added: “The clubs all worked together and we have written to them thanking them for all their efforts. Hopefully this will be the catalyst for this cluster approach.”

The Sweet Chariot Tour, which is currently in Northumberland, will see the trophy 2003 visit 290 venues in association with sponsors EA Sports, Ford, Holiday Inn, Land Rover and Lucozade Sport.

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