'I derailed whatever they were planning': Hero farmer describes herself as a 'plucky amateur' as she recounts how she foiled terror plot
The farmer claimed police "had dropped the ball” and that “a plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the air base is on high alert.
A farmer has described how she disrupted an alleged terror plot near RAF Fairford after spotting three suspicious vans and a group of masked men in the early hours of Sunday.
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The Whelford resident said she was driving home from a party in the early hours of Sunday when she found three white vans blocking both the road and the entrance to her farm.
She said: “We were aware that RAF Fairford was operating at a high security level and that civilian staff had been evacuated.
“We had noticed some activity from what I assumed were plain-clothed police officers for the previous few days, so initially I thought perhaps this was more of the same.”
The woman said she was forced to turn her car around - before seeing a group of men in dark clothing, some wearing hoods and balaclavas, running through nearby fields and towards the airbase.
“I then realised that something highly unusual was taking place,” she said.
The farmer said she called 999 at 1.36am after failing to get through to Ministry of Defence Police.
"Within 10 minutes, the village was full of armed police," she added.
The villager who said she raised the alarm about vans blocking a road near RAF Fairford had only “a partial picture” of the situation, Wes Streeting has said.
Defence Secretary Mr Streeting said on Monday he was “really grateful” to the resident of Whelford, Gloucestershire, who has asked not to be identified.
But he also said: “With respect, though, she does only have a partial picture – and that’s as far as I wish to go this morning.”
Five men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing a terrorist act, with counter-terrorism police leading the investigation.
The farmer said she believed her arrival had unsettled the men.
“They would have seen the bright headlights, probably thought we were the police and panicked," she said.
“It would appear that by doing so I just derailed whatever they were planning.”
She added: “I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans.
“I am absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this. The airbase were operating a roadblock close to the entrance to the base, but not on any of the other roads,” she said.
“We assumed someone would be monitoring the roads around the base perimeter and taking regular patrols in the village.
“Clearly, this was not happening, and I believe that my 999 call foiled whatever plans they had.”
She continued: “The vans were within metres of houses, and those people were left unaware, apart from the fact that I sent a message to our village WhatsApp group, hoping that some people would be awake and could make sure their doors were locked.”
Recalling the encounter, she said: “My impression was that they were fit and young. They were all wearing similar dark clothes.“
You don’t see masked men running around at half one in the morning in the countryside near a secure air base and not have concerns.”
She said: “A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the air base is on high alert.
“I think it’s absolutely astonishing.”