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Performers at a 200 year-old circus were driven out of Mexborough by a gang of "feral kids" following "racist slurs made from children as young as eight". Pinder’s Circus

has been visiting Mexborough, South Yorkshire, for the last fifteen years - but now the family-owned business ‘refuse to return’ after ‘all hell broke loose’, during the show's opening

performance. The Circus has been touring since 1812, and is managed by Eddy Pinder, the great great grandson of the company's founder. Eddy recalled opening the night and instantly

receiving racial abuse: "They were all yelling horrid things during the performance. There was a kid about eight years old. He screamed at me, ‘I hope you die you gypsy

b******'." The show was supposed to be on a scheduled six-night-run, but Eddy made the decision to leave after the first night, when the gang of around 30 kids, aged six to

sixteen, showed no signs of stopping. Eddy said: “They stood on chairs and lobbed rubbish towards the stage.” The abuse did not stop, subjecting performers and other audience members to more

slurs, including Eddy’s wife, Erika. Eddy said: “They had all paid to come in but as soon as the performance started getting rowdy, with throwing rubbish and hurling abuse, I thought we had

to shut it down.” Eddy tried to think of a safe way to tackle the 'feral' mob. He said: “We had to just take it in the end, because we were worried about the others waiting for

them outside, in the football court. Kicking them out might have caused a massive problem, so we made it a priority just to finish the performance as best we could while keeping things under

control.” After the show finished, Eddy continued to watch the gang ‘cause chaos’ outside and made the decision to leave: “They were feral. I just thought, why am I putting up with this? I

just can't get my head around it. Me and my wife agreed for the safety of us, and our performers that we would have to take it down.” Eddy explained that he was 'glad he left'

when he did, as when the team started packing up, a 4X4 came barrelling towards the troupe, in what Eddy believes, was an effort to chase them off. Eddy said: “All our trucks were lined up,

ready to leave when suddenly a man left the road opposite at about 60 miles an hour. He drove through the ten foot gap between the trucks, then sped off. If one of my kids had stepped out,

it could have killed them.” Eddy estimates that the whole ordeal has cost the company around £20,000 in lost ticket sales. Eddy said: “We were sold out for six days. Refunding it all is

going to take over two weeks, and we still have to pay our performers and for fuel.” “To top it off, we hire portaloos. The company couldn’t pick them up when we left and we later learnt

that within 20 minutes of us leaving the site, they were vandalised, which adds to our costs.” Eddy explained that despite ‘being sold out at every show’, he feels it is not safe for his

Circus to come back: “If we carry on, who knows what chaos or damage they could cause. The Mexborough people are lovely and we have been visiting for a long time, but it’s just not safe.”

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