Britain’s security agencies have raised their alert level amid concerns that Iran could be linked to further terrorist activity in the UK, after a farmer helped disrupt an alleged plot targeting US bombers at RAF Fairford.
MI5 and counter-terrorism officers are working to identify those behind the suspected attack after five men were arrested. Security sources said the group may have been close to launching what was described as a “very big attack”.
Elite SAS personnel were also reportedly sent from Hereford to the Gloucestershire airbase, according to sources.
Claims that British authorities knew about the alleged plot in advance have been rejected. Whitehall sources said the arrests were not arranged beforehand, despite remarks from President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting that appeared to indicate otherwise.
Sources suggested the additional security presence at RAF Fairford was more likely connected to the continuing threat against US military sites.
Wes Streeting said the farmer who appears to have helped prevent the suspected terror attack has seen only a “partial picture” of the wider security operation.
The local farmer was driving back from a party in the early hours of yesterday when she came across three large white vans blocking a road just yards from RAF Fairford. The base had recently been used by US bombers involved in strikes against Iran.
She later said she noticed more suspects who appeared to be of Middle Eastern origin fleeing the area than the five men eventually detained by police.
Describing herself as “absolutely staggered” to have become the “plucky amateur” who raised the alarm, the farmer also said no one answered when she called a Ministry of Defence hotline intended for local security concerns.
“Thank God we spotted them. I’m just really keen to highlight that it appears someone really dropped the ball on this,” she said, as counter-terrorism officers investigated whether Iran could have been behind the suspected plot.
Streeting praised the woman’s swift response and sense of civic duty, but said she did not have the complete account of what happened and declined to provide further information.
He said: “She has done exactly what we would hope that someone in that extraordinary situation would do, and I’m really grateful to her.
“I think she acted, by her own admission, quickly and thoughtfully, and she did the right thing. With respect, though, she does only have a partial picture, and that’s as far as I wish to go this morning.”
Wes Streeting, pictured today, said the farmer who helped foil the alleged attack at the RAF base used by US bombers had only a “partial picture” of the security operation.
Police arrested five men on terrorism charges near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The farmer said she believed more people had been present at the scene.
An armed officer uses a rifle scope while monitoring RAF Fairford today.
Asked why a 24-hour Ministry of Defence hotline for Fairford residents had not been answered when the farmer called, Streeting said he could not comment because the investigation was still under way.
He again expressed his gratitude to the police and security services, saying Britain must not be “cowed by sabre-rattling from Iran” or allow Tehran to determine the country’s foreign policy. He added that it was too soon to draw conclusions about the suspected plot’s wider aims.
When reporters asked Donald Trump last night whether the suspects were migrants, the US president appeared to nod. He did not answer the question directly, saying only: “We know all about them.”
The farmer’s return from a night out with friends reportedly prompted the balaclava-wearing men to flee into nearby woodland and across the fields surrounding RAF Fairford, which was recently used by US aircraft involved in strikes against Iran.
She said she was astonished to have been the person who raised the alarm, despite President Trump’s claim that the group were known to authorities and under surveillance.
One resident said of the local farmer: ‘She is a hero. She has almost certainly prevented a terror attack.’
The ‘masked’ men were later filmed shirtless amid reports they may have been on a suicide mission armed with explosive vests, allegedly targeting a fleet of US B-1 Lancer bombers based at Fairford.
The farmer, who has not been named, was forced to stop when she found three white vans blocking the road.
As the men fled in different directions, she called 999 before sending a message to the local WhatsApp group in the village of Whelford.
Within 25 minutes, the five suspects had been rounded up and arrested by armed counter-terrorism officers, who are now investigating whether the alleged plot was linked to Iran.
‘They probably thought we were the police and panicked,’ the farmer said last night.
‘A plucky amateur shouldn’t be spotting unusual activity at 1am when the air base is on high alert. I think it’s absolutely astonishing.
‘Thinking about it now, and what could have happened if they had tried to stop me from driving away, I am quite lucky.’
She added: ‘It is pretty incredible, realising you had a face-to-face brush with potential terrorists and may have foiled a terrorist plot. It was clear they had only just arrived. Thank God we spotted them.’
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday morning she said: ‘I was coming home late from a party. On reaching our farm, I found both the driveway and the road blocked by three white vans.
‘We were aware that RAF Fairford was operating at a high security level and that civilian staff had been evacuated.
‘We had noticed some activity from what I assumed were plain-clothed police officers for the previous few days, so initially I thought perhaps this was more of the same.
‘I had no choice but to turn my vehicle around and return back the way I came.
‘On driving a short distance from the vans, I saw a large group of hooded and masked men.
‘When they saw me, they ran ahead of me, some into the field and some towards the neighbouring village of Kempsford.
‘I then realised that something highly unusual was taking place. In light of my awareness of a security threat to the base, I immediately called the MoD (Ministry of Defence) police, the phone rang out and they didn’t answer.
‘At 1.36am I called 999 to report what I had seen. Within 10 minutes, the village was full of armed police.
‘I think it was pure luck that I arrived in the village at a similar time to the vans.
‘I am absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this.
‘The airbase were operating a roadblock close to the entrance to the base, but not on any of the other roads.
‘But we assumed someone would be monitoring the roads around the base perimeter and taking regular patrols in the village.
‘Clearly, this was not happening, and I believe that my 999 call foiled whatever plans they had.
‘Even more surprising that, following my call at 1.36am, the police were aware of the presence of the three vans, but didn’t evacuate the village until 6am.
‘No one from the police has been in touch to ask me anything about it.
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‘I think they were hyper-focused and vigilant about the base itself, and had absolutely no regard for our village.
‘The vans were within metres of houses, and those people were left unaware, apart from the fact that I sent a message to our village WhatsApp group, hoping that some people would be awake and could make sure their doors were locked.
‘It all happened fairly quickly. My impression was that they were fit and young, they were all wearing similar dark clothes.
‘I’m just really keen to highlight that it appears someone really dropped the ball on this.
‘Also, I am finding it strange that at the press conference, the police are saying they responded to a call at 12.45 about three suspicious vans travelling towards the base.
‘If this is the case, why did they not know they were in Whelford when I called almost an hour later?’
Last night as he landed back in Washington from Illinois, President Trump hailed US-UK co-operation to foil the attack – and insisted that the group were known to police and were ‘looking to do big damage’ to US forces.
When asked if the US knew about the attack, he said: ‘We know all about them. You’ll be hearing about it very soon. We caught them.’
Earlier in the day he said: ‘It was fantastic. Working with Britain, it was an amazing job. We had them under investigation. 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.’
The five arrested men are in custody and can be questioned for a fortnight under UK anti-terror laws.
RAF Fairford was used by the United States Air Force for operations against Iran. The base, which is already on high alert and had ramped up security in recent weeks, is less than a mile from the centre of the village.
Donald Trump appeared to nod to reporters when asked if the men arrested were migrants to the UK last night – but did not answer the question
The group were shirtless and handcuffed, suggesting police suspected they may be wearing suicide vests
The farmer said she thought the vans were suspicious because a phone number and lettering on the back of the vehicles appeared to be fake
Minutes after the farmer’s call, armed police descended on the quiet Cotswolds village of Whelford – home to just 100 – and arrested five men. Dramatic video and pictures from the scene show the young, shirtless men sitting on the ground – arms handcuffed behind them.
The woman, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said she believed her headlights had startled the men, prompting them to try to flee.
She told the Sun: ‘The worst thing is that we saw more than five people and they kept saying they arrested five. They had the helicopters searching.’
It comes as Temporary Chief Constable for Gloucestershire Police, Maggie Blyth, has indicated the force is not looking for anybody else in connection with the incident.
The farmer revealed she had been driving along a quiet lane through the village while her husband was sleeping beside her as she prepared to drop a friend home.
She said the vans struck her as being suspicious because a phone number and lettering on the back of the vehicles appeared to be fake.
She added: ‘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.
US Air Force bomberson the tarmac at RAF Fairford base in Fairford today
Three white vans have been probed by a wheeled robot attached to the bomb squad after five men were arrested following a ‘foiled terror plot’ on RAF Fairford
‘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.
‘It’s bloody preposterous that they weren’t on it and I had to phone up. I’d like to think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.’
The woman said she hoped the police ‘sort themselves out and this doesn’t happen to us again’ – insisting there would be some ‘red faces in the highest levels of command at Fairford anyway’.
One of the white vans was labelled ‘FUEL 2YOU’ in red lettering, with a phone number that was one digit short.
A company with the same name said it had two vans and they were both in London yesterday. After the men were detained a 400m cordon was thrown up around the vehicles – which appeared to have been laden with barrels – while police went door to door, evacuating the 85 homes in the village.
Residents told how they were initially woken by a helicopter at 1am and then again by bangs on the door before being taken away in their pyjamas and dressing gowns to a leisure centre.
Jo, who did not want to give her surname, has lived in Whelford for 18 years. She said she was evacuated from her home at around 7am, adding: ‘We were asleep and they were just banging on our door. They said it was a critical incident and we’ve got to leave straight away, and they basically wouldn’t leave the doorstep until we left.
‘We just had to throw our clothes on and come. We didn’t know anything. (The police) literally waited (at the door). I didn’t even brush my teeth.’
Another Whelford resident said they were woken by a helicopter at 2am. They were then woken again at 6.30am by police officers banging on their bedroom window telling them they needed to evacuate. The local said: ‘We’d gone to bed as normal around 10pm and heard the helicopter above the house at 2ish.
Heavily-armed personnel are seen at the main entrance to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
‘You get used to aircraft living so close to the base, but not at that time in the early hours. So we knew something was happening.
‘We sleep downstairs and heard a banging on the window at 6.30am. We must have slept through the doorbell.
‘It was the police, they were armed and in masks. They very calmly said there was a ‘serious incident’ and that we needed to leave for our own safety.
‘We grabbed some things and headed to the leisure centre. We haven’t been told when we can go back. It’s been a very scary day.’
Those evacuated were taken to Cirencester Leisure Centre – ten miles away – where areas are also being set up for people’s cats and dogs.
Two uniformed officers had earlier gone to collect one worried resident’s dog. They dropped off the small black terrier to her in the foyer of the centre.
Julian Tudsbery, who has lived in Whelford for 30 years, said: ‘Evidently, they phoned the airbase police, who didn’t answer the phone. It just rang out so she dialled 999.’
He said he was evacuated at 7am, adding: ‘[The police] were then banging on the door, so I went downstairs in my dressing gown.’