Balaclava-clad ‘travellers’ accused of terrorising town by ripping up gardens, setting cars on FIRE & raiding shops

BALACLAVA-CLAD ";travellers" are accused of terrorising a town by ripping up gardens, setting cars on fire and raiding shops.

Around 300 people attended a public meeting last night to complain over police inaction after they were left “terrified” by a weekend of “shocking” criminal activity, which also saw the group of men allegedly threaten firefighters.

A convoy of up to 30 cars carrying dozens of men, one with a pick axe handle, are said to have tore around in the Cambridgeshire Fens on Saturday, ripping up farmers’ fields, ruining crops, speeding through villages and intimidating the locals, who have been left “traumatised”.

The men also damaged fire engines and attacked fire crew, who were taking part in a training exercise in Chatteris - with Cambridgeshire Police “ignoring” all 999 calls.

Farmers and residents gave harrowing stories at the meeting at Manea British Legion Club, which was called by MP Steve Barclay and Manea councillor Charlie Marks.

It was attended by Cambridgeshire’s Chief Constable Nick Dean, who heard from dozens of residents, who said they had been left unprotected despite making 999 calls for help.

One resident told police they needed to improve their response in the future, warning: “You get this wrong and you will have another Tony Martin on your hands.”

Martin was a farmer from Norfolk, England, who shot a burglar dead in his home in August 1999.

Farmer Matthew Latter, from Sutton Gault, Chatteris, said he was forced to barricade himself and his young family in their home after more than 70 masked men smashed their way through gates, and moved concrete blocks to access his land.

He said they suffered three-and-a-half hours of mayhem on the land around their home as he made numerous calls to police.

He added: “We had at least 70 people literally take over our farm from 1.30pm to 4pm. There were 13 4x4s.

“I called the police three times, I gave the What3Words coordinates of exactly where they were but we didn’t have any response – absolutely zero.

"My seven-year-old daughter was crying and was utterly terrified.”

Another woman said she called 999 as the petrol station at Witcham Toll was being robbed, but was told to call back on 101 as it was not an emergency.

Leo Butler, from Chatteris, said he had never seen anything like it and added: “What I would like to know is where were the police – there were no helicopters, no police cars, not one police officer – nothing.

"If the police aren’t going to confront these people somebody’s got to."

Robert Sears, a former Conservative councillor, added "I haven’t seen lawlessness like this anywhere in the world" after he was confronted by 25 muddy 4x4s driving towards him.

Councillor Marks, who witnessed some of the criminality in Manea, said it was pure luck that no one had been killed or seriously injured.

“We could have been mourning a member of our village today,” he said.

The lawless activity began in Wimblington, then the cars zoomed around the Fens, with vehicles mounting pavements and speeding at more than 60mph in 30mph zones.

Chief Constable Dean told the meeting he had gone with his "gut feeling" over the allocation of extra resources and commented that "I perhaps got it wrong in hindsight".

A Cambridgeshire police spokesperson said: "We are appealing for information, dashcam footage or CCTV following a number of incidents of hare coursing, yesterday causing thousands of pounds’ worth of damage to crops as well as putting lives at risk with dangerous driving.

"Up to 25 vehicles were seen, some in convoy, in various parts of the county, These included Fordham, Ely, Prickwillow, Littleport, Welney, Chatteris, Manea, Wimblington and Doddington.

"We understand the impact this has had on the community and we are investigating."

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