IT WAS meant to be the day that the Romany people paid their last respects to a popular Hampshire woman.

But the family of May Cooper claim the day was ruined when police turned up in riot gear prepared for trouble.

Mourners at the funeral of Mrs Cooper were shocked to see riot vans and police patrolling the streets of North Baddesley when they turned out to pay their last respects to the woman who was known as Minnie.

Her son Albert Cooper claims the police presence ruined their parade and was completely unnecessary for what was a peaceful day.

But police claim they were only reacting to information they received from Albert that there might be trouble.

Mr Cooper, 37, said he was contacted by the police the day before the funeral saying they would be present.

He claims he warned the police if they interfered with proceedings then there could be trouble and he asked them to come in plain clothes if they had to come.

"It has left us feeling sick," said Mr Cooper from North Baddesley, who once served five years in jail for hitting a police officer.

"No one caused any trouble. I believe it was done to insult the Romany population, it is a living prejudice in Hampshire. They should have just stayed away. Why did they do this?

"They had riot vans and officers with shields and a dog unit.

"The whole village is up in arms. It is out and out racism. They did it to scare everyone. If they wanted to police it then they should have done it in plain clothes."

More than 400 people, from as far as London and Bath, turned out at the All Saints Church for the funeral on Friday. Mrs Cooper, a widow who was buried beside her husband, was a popular face in the community where she had lived until she died last month from emphysema aged 72.

Even the village pubs had closed for the day based on police advice. The landlord of the Bedes Lea pub, who did not want to be named, said his company decided to close after they found out about the police presence.

"The police presence was unbelievable," he said.

"It was a bit of an over reaction. The place was like a ghost town."

A spokeswoman for the police said they were only reacting to information received from Albert Cooper the day before the funeral.

She said: "We responded to the possibility of a serious public order situation.

"The day went extremely peacefully and there was no interference. We did not interfere with the funeral or the funeral procession. There were only about 100 people there."

Mrs Cooper's daughter Shirley Holden, 39, said: "It was awful. It wasn't only us that was upset. There were hundreds of people there.

"People were coming out of their gardens to pay their respect but they were aware of the number of police around.

"My mother lived here all her life and this wasn't a very respectful send-off for her.

Michael Fislock, a painter and decorator from Bath and a friend of Albert's travelled down with his fiancee for the day.

"It was quite shocking," he said.

"It was a day of mourning and the police were out in force. There were at least 300 people there. It was almost as if they were trying to incite trouble.

"There were riot vans, police in the pub car parks and quite a few walking on foot.

"I feel really sad for the family."

Clive Coombes, a company manager from Totton, was also a mourner on the day and he said he counted at least 400 people there.

"It made the day more stressful than it should have been," he said.