A white van was recorded on a doorbell camera less than a mile from RAF Fairford on the evening when a terror alert led to a significant emergency response. The vehicle was seen at 11:15 pm on Saturday, passing a residence and heading towards the airbase.
The incident escalated in the early hours of Sunday morning after three vans were linked to a suspected bomb threat, prompting an evacuation of the local area and a strong presence of emergency services around the base.
The footage of the van was discovered by a local resident living near the Fairford Youth Football Club fields, which served as a staging area for over 20 emergency vehicles.
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The resident said: “I reviewed our security cameras and spotted this van at around 11:15 pm on Saturday night. I was surprised because it’s unusual for a large white van to be on our road at that hour. It resembles the vans seen in other news coverage.”
Five men in their early to mid-20s from London were initially arrested in connection with the incident. They were later released on police bail on Monday, September 28, pending further enquiries related to explosives and terrorism offences.
Describing the ongoing situation, the resident added: “Countless emergency vehicles have passed through-firefighters, police, ambulances, bomb disposal units. I feel sorry for those who were evacuated; thankfully, our home was unaffected. We have been trying to spot the three vans involved but haven’t seen them in the footage yet. It’s a frightening situation.”
Three days on from when the major incident was declared, the police investigation at RAF Fairford continues. While most of the cordoned area has been lifted, a perimeter remains in place around the base and the locations where the vans were found. Armed checkpoints restrict access, allowing only local villagers to pass.
When the 400-metre exclusion zone was removed, the 85 households that had been evacuated were permitted to return home on Monday night.
Police confirmed that no improvised explosive devices were found inside the vans, though they did find a quantity of petrol. Additionally, several properties in London have been searched as part of the ongoing investigation.
RAF Fairford, located on the Gloucestershire-Wiltshire border, is primarily used by the United States Air Force. It has functioned as the European base for US bomber operations in Iran and the Persian Gulf for several months.