Eight men arrested after spate of rural crime at farms near Buckingham

Eight men have been arrested after a spate of rural crime at farms near Buckingham.

The arrests relate to 16 incidents of rural crime, including the theft of caravans, vehicles, horseboxes and trailers, attempted thefts, burglaries and criminal damage at farms across Aylesbury Vale from December 20 last year to February 1 this year.

Eight of the incidents took place at farms near Buckingham - in Biddlesden, Lillingstone Dayrell, Preston Bissett, Little Horwood, Aston Abbotts, Maids Moreton, Steeple Claydon and Water Stratford. Other incidents took place in Stewkley, Wingrave and Leighton Buzzard.

The incidents included the following:

- On January 25, two vehicles went past an ANPR camera in The Terrace, Biddlesden, at around 2.45am, before the pole supporting the camera was dragged out of the ground. Mud and gouge marks were found in the road to Syresham, where the pole was found minus the camera.

- Also in Biddlesden, at around 1.30am on January 14, an officer spotted a black BMW 3 Series towing a stolen horsebox from Northamptonshire in Biddlesden. The vehicle contained four men wearing face coverings. The officer found the horsebox in a barn at a farm near Biddlesden.

- In Lillingstone Road, Lillingstone Dayrell, a farm occupant noticed security lights on in the yard at 11.30pm on January 17. They called police at 2.20am on January 18, as they heard voices and the sound of scraping. They then saw four men in the yard trying to steal trailers. Police officers attended and chased two men in the yard on foot but they got into a black BMW 3 Series and drove off. Two bottles of peroxide fluid were left at scene, thought to have been used to melt wheel locks.

- At around 2.50am on January 12, a caravan was stolen from a farm near Preston Bissett, using an old-style Range Rover. The tracker was removed from the caravan and dumped in West Street, Steeple Claydon. It was recovered after its number plates were shown to a car dealer in Liverpool and it had ANPR hits in the north of England.

- At around 10.10pm on January 11, a security alarm was activated at a farm in Salden Lane, Little Horwood. The occupant saw five or six men in a field and one used a horse jump pole to damage a CCTV camera.

- Five men were disturbed looking round buildings at a farm in Bycell Road, Maids Moreton, at around 10.50pm on January 9. The farm gate was lifted off its hinges and three bridles were taken from an outbuilding.

- The occupant of a property in Haywood Park, Stewkley, was alerted by a video doorbell at around 10.40pm on January 8. The doorbell showed two unknown men on the driveway looking at her caravan. The occupant came out with a small dog, which barked at one man, who hit something on the floor next to it. The other man threw a couple of pebbles from the drive in their direction as they stood by the door. The offenders hitched the caravan to a black-coloured estate vehicle, which looks like a BMW 3 Series, and left.

- In Sandhill Road, Steeple Claydon, police officers noted a black BMW parked up near stables in Sandhill Road, Steeple Claydon, at around 4.45am on January 8. Officers disturbed about eight men, who made off with a vehicle. A CCTV camera was stolen and a gate damaged.

- Sometime between midnight and 5am on December 20, 2021, offenders drove through a field to a farm in Stowe Road, Water Stratford, to avoid CCTV cameras and get to a caravan storage area. They broke wheel clamps, a pitch lock and a pallet containing paving slabs to enclose a caravan before turning and removing it.

- A blue Nissan X-Trail linked to caravan thefts pinged an ANPR camera in High Street, Buckingham, at around 2.15pm on January 9. An armed response vehicle attended but the Nissan failed to stop, along with a black Mercedes E-Class it was in convoy with. They were pursued along the A421 to Thornton, where the Nissan was involved in a collision and the Mercedes made off.

The Nissan driver, a 23-year-old man from Wolverhampton, was arrested on suspicion of theft, failing to stop for police and driving without insurance. He was released on bail to April 5.

The other seven men were arrested by Bedfordshire Police on Thursday, February 3, at The Stables caravan site in Billington, near Leighton Buzzard, on suspicion of theft, criminal damage and robbery.

They included three men aged 19, 25 and a 32 from Stoke-on-Trent; three aged 19, 20 and 24 from Billington; a 23-year-old from Hayes, London; and a 35-year-old from Bletchley. They have all been bailed until March 3.