Irate picnicker sees red as he blocks combine harvester over 'dusty sandwich'
16 August 2022, 10:53 | Updated: 16 August 2022, 11:03
A furious picnicker stepped out in front of a moving combine harvester to protest that the machine had 'ruined his picnic' by making his sandwiches dusty.
The incident, which took place on farmland in Berkshire, sees the irate man stopping the dangerous piece of heavy farm machinery in its tracks.
The alarming video – which has now been viewed online more than 786,000 times, shows the angry man standing firm in front of the oncoming machinery, before the 16 tonne combine harvester is brought to a halt.
The death-defying protest took place on Saturday, August 13, at Rookery Farm in Newbury, Berkshire.
The man steps in front of the machine declare the wheat debris had ‘ruined his family picnic’.
As part of the angry exchange, the man is filmed saying: “We were just having a family meal and he sprayed our table twice.”
Aptly titled ‘Dusty Sandwich Man (Combine Harvester Protestor)’, the clip was posted on social media by young farmer Eleanor Gilbert, 20, under the name of Berkshire Farm Girl.
Miss Gilbert was accompanying her mother Sandy in a nearby support vehicle at the time. Her step-father, Dan Willis, 47, who was said to be driving the farming machinery, was radioed about the oncoming trespasser.
Yesterday we had an angry member of the public jump out in front of the combine around the headland because his sandwich was covered in dust. He then came out again and stood in front of the combine. He was so lucky not to have been hit by a vehicle. Thanks mum for de-escalation pic.twitter.com/s0le1I9EBB
— Berkshire Farm Girl 🚜🌾🇬🇧 (@LittleBigFarm) August 14, 2022
The footage shows the man, in a red shirt, in an angry confrontation with the farmers.
Miss Gilbert’s mother attempts to de-escalate the situation. Stepping out of her vehicle, her mother Sandy is heard saying: “Hello, could you just come over a minute?”
Taking to Twitter, Miss Gilbert said: "Yesterday we had an angry member of the public jump out in front of the combine around the headland because his sandwich was covered in dust.
"He then came out again and stood in front of the combine. He was so lucky not to have been hit by a vehicle. Thanks mum for de-escalation".
The young farmer subsequently pointed out that if it wasn't for the farmers harvesting the wheat, there wouldn’t have been a sandwich to eat in the first place.
