SuppliedA farmer who told the BBC her 999 call “foiled” a suspected terror plot says police and security services “dropped the ball” in their handling of the incident.
She told BBC News she called police just after 01:30 BST on Sunday after seeing three vans parked in a “weird formation” near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The vans had a “large group of hooded and masked men” outside who started to “panic” when they saw her.
Five men, all UK nationals from London in their early to mid 20s, have been arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting told BBC Breakfast he was grateful to the local resident but that she had only “a partial picture”.
Streeting said of the farmer: “I do want to thank the member of the public who acted quickly and called this in.
“I would also just say, respectfully, that she has a partial picture,” he said.
“And I won’t go beyond that, in terms of commenting on operational security matters,” he added.
The local resident from Whelford, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was coming home from a party when she found the road and her driveway blocked by three white vans.
She described the vans as having “strange signage” on them.
“I looked at it and thought ‘that is not real’,” she told BBC News.
“When they saw me, they then ran ahead of me, some into the field and some into the neighbouring village of Kempsford,” she said.
“I then realised that something highly unusual was taking place,” she said.
The farmer was aware that RAF Fairford was operating at a high security level so immediately called the Ministry of Defence police, but did not receive an answer.
She then called 999 at 01:36, and said that within 10 minutes the village was full of armed police.
She also revealed that hours before her encounter, her neighbour phoned her “in tears” after she had tried to drive home at about 20:00 BST on Saturday and was stopped by armed personnel.
The woman said she remained “staggered by the whole story”.
“This sort of thing doesn’t happen,” she added.
“I still can’t process how that base, on high alert, how this has happened.
“I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans,” she said.
“I’m absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this.”
She added: “The airbase were operating a roadblock close to the entrance to the base, but not on any of the other roads.
“We assumed someone would be monitoring the roads around the base perimeter and taking regular patrols in the village, clearly this was not happening.
“I believe my 999 call foiled whatever plans they had,” she said.
She added she was surprised the roads around the base were not being monitored and the village was not evacuated of residents until 06:00.
“I think they were hyper focused and vigilant about the the base itself and had absolutely no regard for our village,” she said.
“The vans were within metres of houses and those people were left unaware.
“I’m just really keen to highlight that it appears someone really dropped the ball on this.”
She also said it was “strange” that police said they had received reports of suspicious vehicles approaching the base nearly an hour before her call.
Of her neighbour’s encounter on Saturday night, the farmer said: “She was stopped outside the main gates of the airbase. It was armed American personnel. They were incredibly aggressive.
“She had her children in the car, and they made them all put their hands out of the car, shouted at her to put her car in neutral,” she added.
“She was really upset. And in the end, they had to turn round. They couldn’t drive that way to their own house.”
Other villagers have spoken to BBC News about what they saw happening around the base in the days leading up to the arrests.
One reported seeing a man jumping out of some bushes wearing a backpack early on Friday, while a dogwalker said they were told by armed police to return home and stay indoors on Saturday afternoon.
Responding to Streeting’s comments about her having a “partial picture” of what had happened, the farmer added: “I don’t know how he knows what picture I’ve got. I’ve never met him.
“Literally nobody in any sort of official capacity has been in touch with me or anyone else in the village.”
The police cordon around the area remains in place and local residents are yet to return home.
The defence secretary told BBC Breakfast more than 80 homes had been evacuated.
He added he was fairly limited in what he could say about the incident but that an investigation was “well under way”.
He said he understood it was frustrating for the public that he could not share more information – but it was “a small price to pay” to protect the integrity of the police and security services.
US President Donald Trump said the US, which uses RAF Fairford as a forward operating location for “defensive” strikes on Iran, had the men “under view for a long time, and we got them”.
The Iranian embassy in London has said it “categorically rejects” speculation linking the country to the arrests of the five men.
Streeting went on to issue an “enormous thank you” to local members of the public for showing “vigilance” and “forbearance”.
He also thanked the police, security services and counter terror police for how they handled the incident.
The five men who were arrested under the Explosives Act and on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act remain in custody.
Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth confirmed the force had made the initial arrests but that Counter Terror Police were leading the investigation.
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