A local woman near RAF Fairford has been dubbed a hero after spotting a “large group of hooded and balaclava’d men” allegedly in vans and called 999 and warned other reisents in a local WhatsApp group
A villager has been hailed a hero after she raised the alarm about vans blocking the road and a “large group of hooded and balaclava’d men” gathering near RAF Fairford. She also took to WhatsApp to alert locals in a group chat.
Three “suspicious vehicles” travelling towards RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire were reported to police at about 12.45am on Sunday (September 27).
Five men were arrested on suspicion of explosive and terrorism offences after armed police stopped the vans as US President Donald Trump claimed they were looking to do “big damage”.
A resident of Whelford village, Gloucestershire, told the Press Association that she had spotted the vehicles “blocking the road” before seeing a “large group of hooded and ‘balaclava’d’ men” while driving home.
“They would have seen the bright headlights,” she said. “They probably thought we were the police (and) panicked.”
She added: “It would appear that by doing so I just derailed whatever they were planning.”
Officers arrived on the scene around 15 minutes after she dialled 999, she said. Residents had at the time understood the base was on lockdown due to a “terror threat”, the woman added.
“A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting an unusual bit of activity at 1am when the air base is on high alert,” she said. “I think it’s absolutely astonishing.”
In a separate interview with The Telegraph, she said she had been driving home from a party when she saw the vans with apparently fake phone number and lettering on.
Believing the suspicious vehicles had been abandoned, she turned around only to see men in balaclavas dash into the trees and fields towards the base.
The woman said she accelerated away and called the force before texting a local WhatsApp group to warn people to lock their doors.
“Thinking about it now, and what could have happened if they had tried to stop me from driving away, I am quite lucky,” she told The Telegraph.
“It is pretty incredible, realising you had a brush with potential terrorists face to face and may have foiled a terrorist plot. It was clear they had just got there. Thank God we spotted them.”
She said: “I just thought what the hell are they doing… I saw a group of Middle Eastern-looking young guys running off through the trees. Some of them had masks or balaclavas on, and they all scattered ahead of us as we drove back past.
“Some of them ran into the fields, and some of them turned to run towards the air base. We realised this was something pretty serious. We knew the air base had a credible threat of a terrorist attack before last night. So as soon as I saw them I was worried.
“I mean, 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.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the Government will “always take every step necessary” to protect the country, following the major incident outside RAF Fairford, and paid tribute to the police and armed forces. It also comes as US President Donald Trump also praised the police response.
Trump praised the UK police response and suggested authorities already had the suspects under investigation.
Using the American term for military sites – fort – to refer to RAF Fairford, which hosts USAF heavy bombers, he told reporters in the US: “It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job.
“We had them under investigation. They, they were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great.
“It may have been Scotland Yard, I don’t know. We worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time, and we got them. Thank you.”