Villager describes stumbling on ‘balaclava’d’ men by RAF airbase before ‘terror plot’ arrests

A villager called 999 after seeing vans blocking the road and a “large group of hooded and balaclava’d men” gathering near RAF Fairford.

Five men were arrested on suspicion of explosive and terrorism offences after armed police stopped three vans in the early hours of Sunday.

A resident of Whelford village, Gloucestershire, the woman said she 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.”

A pensioner living nearby similarly described an apparent increase in Fairford’s security in recent weeks, with vehicles parked and concrete walls laid behind the gates.