The culture of lawlessness and escalating gang violence in Middlesbrough which has brought armed police onto the streets of the town is encapsulated in a memorial poster for Cole Worthy, one of the teenagers killed in the catastrophic A66 crash.

Next to a photograph of the 17-year-old are the words: ‘A life so beautifully lived, deserves to be beautifully remembered.’

Only in the dystopian underclass of Teesside – and too many other areas of urban Britain where civil society has all but broken down – could the tragically short time Cole Worthy spent on this earth be glorified in this way.

Even in the picture chosen for the poster, to publicise a balloon release ‘in his honour’, he is making what looks suspiciously like a trademark hand sign signifying membership of a gang.

His balaclava-wearing entourage can be seen gesturing in the same way on social media.

We now know the posturing wasn’t just bravado. Their ilk – and the parents and families who support them – have helped turn Middlesbrough into the most dangerous place to live in the country. 

The evidence is now being played out on the TV news and news websites in the violence-fuelled aftermath of the crash. No one should have to bury a 17-year-old boy and his friends.

But the sole reason Cole Worthy and four of his young associates are dead is because they were in a stolen VW Passat being driven the wrong way down a dual carriageway which was involved in a head-on collision with a police patrol car that resulted in the deaths of PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38.

Cole Worthy (right) with his friend Theo Rae, who died in the A66 car crash last Saturday

The two officers were the only truly innocent victims of the carnage. PC Blades was the father of two young boys and a popular football coach.

‘The pain of losing him is beyond words, and our lives will never be the same,’ his wife Sarah said. ‘Neither will the love he gave us ever fade,’ she added, describing him as ‘our superhero’.

PC Clough is a former soldier who served in Afghanistan. He leaves behind a partner. His family said he ‘proudly fought for his country to make the world a better place’ and was ‘always on public duty throughout his short life’.

He had a ‘fantastic’ sense of humour, they said, and was ‘willing to help anyone for any reason’.

Cole Worthy and his friends were not simply thrill-seeking for TikTok, where sharing footage celebrating reckless driving has become a dangerous trend.

They were in pursuit of a Volvo XC60 which had ploughed into the home of Worthy’s father just 40 minutes before the devastating crash in the early hours of last Saturday.

Ramming homes with vehicles has become the modus operandi in the tit-for-tat gang wars plaguing Middlesbrough.

The chilling question today, however, is whether a house fire in Grangetown on the outskirts of Middlesbrough at 5.23am on Wednesday, which claimed the lives of Valentina Foster, seven, and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, was a gangland attack.

PC Matthew Blades, a father of two, was killed when his police vehicle was struck head-on by a VW Passat travelling the wrong way down the A66 near Middlesbrough 

PC Tom Clough also died in the crash, which occurred around ten seconds after a police pursuit of the Volkswagen had been called off

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Cleveland Police stressed yesterday that detectives are not linking the house fire to the car crash.

But the Daily Mail has discovered that Natalie’s uncle is Marty Timms, 55, a notorious gangland figure on Teesside.

He is serving 14 years, with two accomplices, for gunning down a 21-year-old man in a drive-by shooting in Grangetown on May 28, 2024. The victim was riddled with bullets but survived.

Two men, aged 23 and 31, have been arrested on suspicion of murder over the fire and remain in custody.

Eyewitnesses told how another woman who was inside the house, and is in a critical condition in hospital alongside another three people who suffered non-life threatening injuries, escaped from the inferno with much of her hair burned off.

Barely 24 hours after the fatal arson attack, the front garden wall of an address near the blaze was demolished in the latest in a spate of house ramming incidents.

Then, shortly afterwards, on Thursday afternoon, armed police surrounded a property in the area after a man was stabbed and taken to hospital in an air ambulance.

Middlesbrough, then, seems to be on the brink. The local MP has described the wave of disorder as ‘terrorism’.

An extra 200 police officers are being drafted in to support the investigation into the A66 and house fire tragedies, it has now been announced.

‘Tensions are high and getting worse,’ Andy Preston, the former Mayor of Middlesbrough, told the Daily Mail. ‘No one knows what will happen next.

‘People are very, very scared. There’s a small but destructive criminal underclass that has been allowed to grow in towns like ours and politicians are too weak to confront it.’

Middlesbrough (which has a population of around 156,000) has the highest crime rate in England outside London. Teesside is also where you are most at risk of being murdered.

Makai Saddington, one of the five killed in the VW, had posted videos on TikTok of him being chased by police and was awaiting trial for racially abusing and assaulting officers

Jacob Matusiak, another occupant of the car which hit the officers’ patrol vehicle, also posted videos of himself driving recklessly

The latest statistics coincide with the thin blue line getting ever thinner here. The Cleveland force, which covers Middlesbrough, is facing a £2.4million funding shortfall – the equivalent of around 40 full-time officers.

High levels of deprivation – Middlesbrough has the greatest proportion of ‘highly deprived’ neighbourhoods out of all local authorities in the country – is one of the reasons cited for the state of near anarchy in some neighbourhoods.

Cleveland Police yesterday revealed seven more people have been arrested in the aftermath of the crash, bringing the total to 24, suggesting that the violence is being fuelled by more than postcode rivalries which have resulted in so many deadly stabbings in London and elsewhere.

Seven of the original 17 held were detained on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group including a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old.

Others were accused of possessing firearms, making threats to kill and drug dealing.

Much of the current unrest has been in east Middlesbrough, where community buildings have been daubed with tributes to Cole Worthy and the others who were in the VW – Theo Rae, also 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Jakub Matusiak and Michael Cahill, both 23 – along with the slogan ‘F*** TMF’, thought to stand for ‘The Middlesbrough Feds’ (police).

It is a world where misguided loyalty or fear of reprisals often prevents cooperation with the police. Mr Preston is all-too familiar with the code of omerta that exists here – especially now.

‘I have sometimes met people two miles from where they live. They were too scared to meet anywhere in the vicinity of their home because I was mayor and they could be seen as a ‘grass’,’ he said. 

‘There are residents even too scared to call Crimestoppers anonymously. They know that the miscreants terrorising the community do what they want and maybe every now and again one of them goes to prison for a while.’

In June, two men were jailed after a shotgun was fired through the window of a house at close range, knowing there were potentially children inside.

This followed a targeted attack in which three men on a quad bike discharged a sawn-off shotgun at another property.

The scars of gangland violence are visible on many streets where there are boarded up windows and doors, along with rubble and debris piled up in gardens: the legacy of the ram-raid epidemic.

Curtis Cremin, pictured holding a huge machete, was jailed for running an organised county drugs line, in TS6 and TS3. It is understood he has links to the A66 gang

At least 12 armed police swoop on a residential street in Thornaby, North Yorkshire, overnight

Five thugs who were convicted after an organised crime investigation in East Middlesbrough. The three young men on the bottom row – Curtis Cremin, Louie Leadbeater and Laiton Hopkins – are said to be linked to the A66 crash gang

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Homes in Macbean Street and Pilkington Street in the North Ormesby district were hit on August 12 and a tractor was driven into a house in Priory Road in the middle of the night in May.

‘My partner was out so I was here alone,’ said a young mum from a neighbouring terrace. ‘I was in bed when it happened. I just saw flickering lights. I looked out of the window and saw the tractor.’

A few miles away in Stockton, on the edge of Middlesbrough, a white Range Rover rammed a house five times earlier this month. 

It was occupied by a couple whose son has just been released from prison, according to residents, but he refused to work for drug dealers when freed.

‘Everything is to do with drugs,’ said a local, adding that his former neighbours had been moved to a ‘safe house’.

Signs of underworld reprisals are also evident in Ruskin Avenue where there is a gaping hole under the front window of the semi where Gye Worthy – the father of Cole – lived.

It was around 3am (on August 22) that the Volvo deliberately reversed into his property. Within minutes the VW Passat with his son and his four friends inside were in pursuit.

Soon seven people would be dead. The backgrounds of the ‘gang of five’ provides a disturbing insight into inner city Britain where traditional communities have been eroded by a cancerous underclass which exists outside conventional society’s moral boundaries. 

A local parent who knew Cole said: ‘He was a bright kid and could have done a lot better than he did if he had a more stable background at home.’

Mr Worthy, 39, an off-shore worker, and Cole’s mother are no longer together.

The director of a company specialising in ‘support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction’, his father led a ‘normal life’ at home, said a neighbour.

But the parent added: ‘Cole seemed anxious to a get a reputation as a hard man, which is something he’d seen in his dad. He really looked up to his father and that seems to be where things began to go wrong.’

Valentina Foster, seven, and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, died in a house fire on Wednesday

A house in Acklam, Middlesbrough, linked to the father of Cole Worthy, one of the young men who died in the A66 crash, was rammed hours before Saturday’s collision

When Cole Worthy climbed into the VW Passat last weekend, he had chalked up a rap sheet of previous convictions including using threatening or abusive language to cause harassment, alarm and distress, assaulting a police officer, failing to surrender to custody, and using a mobile phone while driving. 

His best friend was Theo Rae. They were both 17. Rae’s family have blamed the police for the crash.

In a now deleted post, Ryan Young, who describes himself as Rae’s uncle, wrote: ‘Just to let you know the police killed them.

‘I will fight for justice for you all. The police threw a stinger [spike strip] on the wrong side of the road and made them lose control and this hasn’t been mentioned anywhere. It is disgusting…’

Rae had 21 previous convictions (including assaulting a police officer, aggravated vehicle taking and shoplifting) and was in a stolen car when he died.

Makai Saddington lived with his mother, who moved around addresses in the deprived TS3 postcode in the east of Middlesbrough.

‘He was out of control, always tearing about on a motorbike of some kind, pulling wheelies up the street, a proper menace to younger kids who were playing outside,’ said a former neighbour. 

 ‘He moved on from bikes to cars when he was about 17 and then got his laughs from police chases.’

A video on TikTok shows him in the back seat of an Audi involved in one such chase and he can be seen laughing as the camera pans to his face.

His uncle Aaron Saddington, 23, was jailed in June for driving at 100mph the wrong way down the A66. The same road where the fatal crash occurred.

Makai Saddington, who was 18, was a father. His son was born in January last year. At the time of his last court appearance in June for the racially aggravated harassment of an Asian police officer, Saddington was ‘of no fixed address’.

Jakub Matusiak was brought up by his mother alongside his sister and younger brother. Someone who knew him described him as a ‘good kid who was easily led’.

Matusiak also had a fascination with motorbikes and had two convictions for using a vehicle without insurance and driving without a licence. At a vigil following his death, his friends turned up in balaclavas and set off flares.

A mob of youths also descended on the vigil for Michael Cahill on Thursday night, torching several cars and setting off fireworks.

Cahill, whose family had close links with the travelling community, was from Peterlee in County Durham. The 23-year-old was the only member of the gang of five with no convictions.

Nine deaths, including two exemplary police officers, and 24 arrests in the space of a few days.

Many people will be familiar with a dystopian film franchise called The Purge in which the government legalises all crime, including murder, for a 12-hour period every year.

One would be forgiven for thinking that right now Middlesbrough is experiencing its own permanent version of The Purge.

Additional reporting: Mark Branagan and Kevin Donald

A Home Office-backed campaign will see thousands of music fans in Reading and Leeds given advice about tackling violence against women and girls as part of a drive to tackle the crisis

Thousands of festivalgoers will be spoken to about toxic behaviour over the weekend as ministers hailed efforts to make events safer for women and girls.

Home Office-backed teams are at the Reading and Leeds festivals in a landmark awareness drive. Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson says it is “everyone’s business” to tackle misogyny as she voiced her support for the Enough campaign.

And Safeguarding Minister Satvir Kaur told The Mirror: “By speaking directly to hundreds of thousands of young people, we are able to shine a light on forms of abuse that too often go unrecognised. It means we can challenge harmful behaviour and have an important conversation about the need to tackle violence against women and girls.

OPINION

“This couldn’t come at a more vital time. In the year ending March 2025, 5.1 million people aged 16 and over were victims of domestic abuse, stalking or sexual assault – this is completely unacceptable. We will continue to tackle this head-on and make this country safe for women and girls.”

Labour has pledged to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade, and has teamed up with Festival Republic to spread the message. Women’s safety campaigner and influencer Liv Nevill – who is backing the Enough campaign – said: “Festivals should be places where women can feel free, have fun and enjoy themselves, but so many of us still have to make constant calculations about our safety that men may never even have to consider.

“Through speaking openly about women’s safety on my platform, I’ve heard from so many women who have experienced the same fear and discomfort in public spaces. That’s why the Enough campaign is so important: it helps people recognise behaviours that are too often dismissed or normalised and reminds everyone that creating safer spaces for women is a shared responsibility.”

“The more confidently we can recognise and challenge these behaviours, the safer these spaces can become for every woman,” added Liv. Reading and Leeds festivals attract an estimated 150,000 music fans, with Charli XCX, Dave, Florence and The Machine, RAYE and Chase & Status among the headliners.

Ms Phillipson said: “Challenging violence against women and girls and misogynistic views is everyone’s business. We all have a part to play in calling it out, and the Enough campaign as part of festival season is an important step in stamping out behaviour that is too often normalised. Halving violence against women and girls is one of this government’s key commitments, and from calling out misogyny to using the full force of the law, we will use every lever available to keep women and girls safe.”

It comes after Andy Burnham warned the government was moving too slow on tackling VAWG. On Friday he announced all police forces in England and Wales will have specialist rape and sexual offence teams in place by the end of next year – 18 months faster than originally promised. And police chiefs will begin rolling out specialist Protection Order Teams to keep victims safe – with electronic tagging, exclusion zones and compulsory behaviour change programmes.

These orders will be issued by courts even if the perpetrator has not been convicted of a criminal offence. The PM said: “The scale of violence and abuse suffered by women and girls in this country is unacceptable. We must be laser focused on stamping out these vile crimes. These measures were going to be introduced in 2029, but I think that’s too slow.”

President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. has entered an agreement with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of the South American country’s oil reserves.

Trump in a social media post announced the agreement he said was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” Trump wrote.

The announcement of the deal comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military at Trump’s direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran reaches a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight. The U.S. has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.

In the days following Maduro’s ouster in January, Trump floated the idea of U.S. oil companies returning to Venezuela to tap its oil reserves. Trump has argued that Venezuela stole U.S. oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.

Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground. That’s about 17% of the world’s supply, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Unlike other parts of the world, where geologists have to search for untapped oil, the reserves under Venezuela’s soil are largely mapped and known, experts say. But because of dilapidated infrastructure, the country only produces about 1% of the world’s oil.

The new shop on North Moor Road opened on Friday (August 28) and offers a full range of the North East bakery giant’s favourites – including sausage rolls and steak bakes.

The venue has both indoor and outdoor seating and is open daily from 6am to 6pm.

Gillian Long, retail operations director for Greggs, said: “Our new shop in Northallerton has brought 16 new jobs to the local area, as well as providing customers with a modern, convenient new place to experience their Greggs favourites.”

Delivery is available through Just Eat and Uber Eats, and customers can use the Greggs App to order ahead via click and collect.

Donna Mason, shop manager, said: “We’ve got an amazing range of iconic savouries, fairtrade hot drinks, hot food and healthier choices available for takeaway, sit-in or click and collect.”

Valentina Foster and Natalie McDonald, 34, died in the blaze on Birchington Avenue in Grangetown on Wednesday (August 26) morning.

Natalie McDonald and Valentina Foster. (Image: UGC)

In an update, police confirmed two people arrested on suspicion of murder remain in custody on Friday (August 28).

A 48-year-old woman left fighting for her life remains in a “critical but stable” at the RVI in Newcastle.

A 27-year-old man remains at James Cook University Hospital where he is receiving treatment.

Meanwhile two teenage girls who suffered non life-threatening injuries have now been discharged following treatment.  

Birchington Avenue remains cordoned off (Image: SUPPLIED)

The property remains unstable and work to make it safe will be carried out in the coming days.

Police said they are not treating the fire as linked to the fatal smash on the A66 which killed seven including two police officers.

Officers initially said they could not rule out a link with wider gang violence breaking out on Teessider after the smash, which also killed five young men in a VW Passat going the wrong way up the A66.

Redcar and Cleveland Local Policing Commander, Superintendent Emily Harrison, said: “Today we continue to investigate a house fire which has claimed the lives of two people; including one child.

“We understand this will be difficult for the local community and would urge people not to speculate as this can be distressing for the families involved and it can impact upon the ongoing investigation.

“At this time, we are not linking this incident to the fatal collision on the A66.

“Our neighbourhood officers continue to have a high visibility presence in the Grangetown area and we would encourage anyone who has concerns, or who may have information, to approach our officers or alternatively call us on 101.”

The owner of Beefeaters has said it is shutting all its 106 restaurants on September 10.

Whitbread made the announcement earlier this summer, while revealing that its 89 Brewers Fayre sites would be closing as well, a few days earlier on September 7.

This is part of a wider restructuring of the business that also owns the Premier Inn hotel brand with the process set to result in 3,800 jobs being lost, although Whitbread has said it is trying to retain as many staff as possible.

READ MORE: TV legend, 65, reveals near miss amid major Jeremy Clarkson scandal

Beefeaters was founded in 1974 and at its height in the late 1990s had over 250 locations across the country.

Around that time, in 1999, celebrity chef Brian Turner was recruited to work with the brand on a series of 20 three to five-minute programmes on British food.

Beefeater brand marketing controller Deborah Cutler told Marketing Week at the time: “The appointment and forthcoming campaign give a new edge to our strategy.

Brewers Fayre in Bicester (Image: Christie Owen & Davies Ltd)

“The sponsorship will focus on our Britishness and commitment to providing great British food.”

Mr Turner, now 80, appeared as a cook on numerous programmes including BBC 2’s ‘Ready Steady Cook’ from 1994 and BBC 1’s ‘Saturday Kitchen which he featured on in 2023.

Across the country, some Beefeater and Brewers Fayre eateries have already been switched over to Whitbread’s own in-house Thyme brand.

Others are being sold and closed with the cuts set to impact about 12 per cent of the company’s 30,000-strong workforce in the UK and Ireland working in its restaurants.

The Applecart Beefeater at the Oxford South Milton Interchange (Image: Christie Owen & Davies Ltd)

A statement was issued on the restructuring earlier this year in which it was announced a number of the restaurants would be converted into additional Premier Inn rooms.

Clarity was also provided on Beefeater’s loyalty scheme with all vouchers needing to be used by Monday August 31.

With a loyalty card, customers could collect 5 points for every £1 spent and once 500 points have been earned, they would be able to claim either a £5 voucher, a free bottle of wine or 2 free starters or desserts.

READ MORE: Final days for 40-year-old UK pub chain as near 4,000 jobs lost

A spokesperson for Whitbread said: “We recognise the impact of this proposal on colleagues who work at the affected sites.

“As a business which recruits around 15,000 people every year, we expect to be able to retain a significant proportion of those affected and will be looking to redeploy as many of our impacted colleagues as possible.

“However, we do anticipate that the proposed changes, which are subject to consultation, would result in a reduction of around 3,800 roles of a total UK and Ireland workforce of around 30,000.

“We will do all we can to support those colleagues affected.”

A man has died and at least six others have been injured after a sign fell on visitors at a Christian festival in West Sussex.

The tragic incident took place at Big Church Festival, near Steyning on Friday afternoon.

Sussex Police said officers were called to the site on Washington Road at about 3.38pm to reports that a large sign had fallen and injured a number of people.

On Friday evening, police confirmed a 41-year-old man from Eastbourne died at the scene. His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard McDonagh said: “This is a tragic incident and our thoughts go out to the man’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.

“At least six other people were also injured during this incident and have been taken to hospital for treatment.

“I recognise the immense distress this will have caused people at the festival, and we are working with a number of partners as we seek to establish exactly what happened.

“We know there were thousands of people at the festival and we’re urging anyone with any information, or any relevant video footage, to please come forward. You can report it online or call 101, quoting Operation Igloo.”

In an Instagram update posted shortly after 5.30pm, event organisers informed attendees that Friday’s entertainment had been cancelled, adding that all day visitors “must leave the site now”.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) said its crews were called to reports that “multiple people” needed medical attention.

“Ambulance crews, critical care paramedics and specialist response teams are currently on scene with six patients confirmed so far,” a Secamb spokesperson said.

“We have no further information to share at this time but will provide updates as soon as possible.”

The festival began on Friday and had been set to run until Sunday, but has been cancelled following the tragic incident.

A statement from Big Church Festival said: “We are devastated by the serious incident that took place at Big Church Festival 2026 today, in which a sign fell, injuring at least seven people, one of whom tragically lost their life.

“First and foremost, all of our thoughts are with those who have been affected, their families and friends, and everyone who witnessed what happened. Following today’s incident, we have made the decision to bring Big Church Festival 2026 to a close.”

“If you are camping with us, please return to your campsite and await further updates.

“Campers may leave the site if they wish to do so.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will share further updates as soon as we can.”

According to its website, Big Church Festival was founded in 2009 and is the UK’s biggest Christian festival.

Lauren Daigle, CeCe Winans, Bethel Music and Elevation Rhythm are among the act scheduled to perform.

The Met Office had urged festivalgoers to prepare for windy conditions over the bank holiday weekend.

According to its UK weather map, wind speeds of up to 27mph were recorded in Shoreham, West Sussex, on Friday afternoon.

Festival essentials for the sober curious

By 10am it was eerily quiet. The previous day saw market traders, hundreds of shoppers and families enjoying lunch alfresco in the late summer sun. But by Thursday morning Braintree in Essex was a ghost town.

And then, shortly before 11am, the first minibus arrived like clockwork from Wethersfield asylum accommodation site and a group of young men disembarked, smartphones in hand, one wearing a Covid-style mask to hide his face.

‘They hang around the bus station and they whistle at the schoolgirls coming off the buses,’ complained 66-year-old local Mike Readon. ‘It’s horrendous. Lots of women just avoid the town entirely on a Thursday because it’s a totally different environment.

‘You see them hanging around the cash machines and then going into charity shops, haggling for a shirt that only costs a pound, trying to get it for 50p.

‘My wife and her friends, they wouldn’t come in on a Thursday, certainly not alone anyhow.’

The Wethersfield site – 12 miles from Braintree and operated by Clearsprings Ready Homes on behalf of the Home Office – is the largest facility of its kind in Britain and currently houses 800 men awaiting the outcome of their claims to remain in the UK.

The majority of the men are in their twenties and thirties and have travelled from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, many arriving on small boats from across the Channel.

This summer it was announced the site will stay open beyond 2027 and the capacity will rise by more than 50 per cent to 1,245.

Migrants from the Wethersfield camp are dropped off in Braintree by minibuses

Migrants are seen in Braintree town centre. They are housed at the Wethersfield site, 12 miles away 

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Earlier this week, the leader of Essex county council, Peter Harris, writing in this newspaper, described Wethersfield as a ‘holiday camp’ noting luxuries included a fully kitted-out gym complete with a fitness studio, a full-sized football pitch, indoor sports hall, television room and pool table. 

Reports from inside Wethersfield also paint a picture of violence, with one 25-year-old, Adnani Mohammed, sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work earlier this year for ‘violently’ attacking staff in a drunken rage.

And while the former RAF base, once home to Allied forces launching raids on the continent during the Second World War, is rural and secluded, local people in Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford feel its presence acutely.

For every week, minibuses ferry the migrant men into these neighbouring communities where residents and workers accuse them of intimidating the elderly, harassing young women, theft and violence.

At the same time, however, hard-Right protesters, calling themselves ‘auditors’, harangue them in public, film their movements, hurl abuse and ultimately provoke further unrest.

Local people have found themselves in the centre of a social maelstrom and are on constant high alert.

Yesterday council leader Mr Harris announced a new plan, Operation Vanguard, to introduce security to these town and city centres to reassure residents.

Regardless of whether the migrants or protesters are the architects of the trouble, this is the story of how the Wethersfield site became a byword for the nation’s divisive asylum system.

Earlier this week, the leader of Essex county council, Peter Harris, writing in this newspaper described Wethersfield as a ‘holiday camp’

Locals in Braintree said you see migrants hanging around cash machines in the town

And it appears that three years after RAF Wethersfield was first converted into an asylum accommodation site by the government, relations between local people and the migrants have soured so much that assimilation into local towns is ruled all but impossible.

When the Daily Mail visited Braintree on Thursday – a day when migrants are brought in – only one minibus arrived carrying just a small group of migrant men, far fewer than the reports of up to 50 earlier this year.

Two local bus drivers in Braintree – neither of whom have anything to do with the migrant coaches – did not mince their words. ‘I want to kick their heads in,’ said one, who the Daily Mail has chosen not to name.

‘Three of ’em tried to get on my bus and honest to God I just drove on past and watched as they dived out of the hedge.’

‘They intimidate elderly people,’ added the second driver. ‘Disabled people have to walk all the way around the outside of town just to avoid them. But nothing will change, it never does.’

‘Put them on a boat and send them back,’ the other driver concludes to groans of agreement from his colleague.

Unpleasant opinions, perhaps, but then feelings are running high in the town.

Along the walk between the bus terminal where the migrants are dropped off and the high street, five panels of glass at the Sue Ryder charity shop have been smashed.

Inside, staff revealed that this is the second time the panes will have to be replaced in two months. While the culprit is yet to be identified, there are legitimate concerns that an asylum seeker from Wethersfield may be to blame after a previous incident in the shop.

Earlier this year, police advised the store to put a sign up declaring that no groups over the size of three should enter and that they were, ‘open for business, closed for crime’.

Accommodation units are pictured at Wethersfield migrant camp

Protesters demand the ex-military base at RAF Wethersfield is closed during a demonstration in September last year

It comes after gangs of up to ten asylum seekers had been caught entering the shop and stealing the donated goods, leaving young volunteers powerless and afraid. 

The Care4Calais charity which typically provides the men with support and supplies from the Salvation Army building in this town, also told this newspaper that their operations had been suspended due to ‘security reasons’.

It’s even worse at the Danaher Animal Home charity shop nearby, where store worker Hannah, in her twenties, has been scarred by an altercation she witnessed on a Thursday in mid-May.

‘I was working in the shop alone,’ she said. ‘A group of men came in – we’re the first charity shop from the bus station you see. They were initially polite and said hello. Then a group of Right-wing women were filming them inside and the men became agitated.

‘One of them threatened to lash out… and then he did. He smashed the camera out of the lady’s hand and I had to keep the two groups apart. There was a huge bruise coming up on the lady’s arm and I had to call the police.

‘It was absolutely horrendous,’ Hannah continued. ‘I only started the job in February. I hate this town. Working here alone as a woman is scary. On Thursdays there are no women, no kids, no locals. Just hundreds of men.

‘I’m not biased either way, but I think the protesters should target the Government, because they’re the ones allowing this to happen,’ she added.

When it comes to these so-called protesters, the agitator-in-chief in Braintree goes under the name ‘AY Audits’ on Instagram, where he has over 36,000 followers.

Real name Anthony Barnes, the man, who appears to be in his forties, has shared over 300 videos of himself harassing migrants and marching with other far-Right demonstrators.

In one typical video shared on August 16, the rotund Barnes films a group of migrant men in Braintree waiting to get back on the minibuses to Wethersfield, at one point mocking a man for picking up prescription medication from a pharmacy.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are similar scenes in nearby Colchester and Chelmsford, where buses also deliver migrants from Wethersfield.

The Government has applauded itself for shutting more than 200 asylum hotels since 2023. Pictured: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood

David Warren, 68, has lived in Colchester all his life and describes the asylum seekers living at Wethersfield as ‘dangerous’. 

‘We don’t know what they’re up to,’ he says, ‘the community wants to see it stopped. Legal migration is fine but through unofficial channels is not okay. I worry.’

Garry Siddall, also 68, and who has lived in the city since 1993, described the young men as having ‘medieval views’. ‘They’re dropped off in the minibuses: it’s intimidating.’

Despite locals’ concerns, the Home Office – while acknowledging the fears of the communities – insists there is ‘no evidence’ that the asylum seekers have disproportionately increased levels of crime in Essex.

It is a similar scene in Chelmsford where Mike – who has lived here for four years – expressed his growing frustrations. ‘It annoys me that homelessness is a problem for British people but they house people who come over here illegally in their vanloads,’ he complained.

‘It’s concerning for children and women. The trouble is escalating, there are safety concerns.’

Kevin Taylor, 54, originally from east London but who has lived in Chelmsford for more than 15 years described the presence of migrants as ‘overwhelming’ for his community.

‘The men hang around in gangs. Women and children are intimidated by the court house; there are big groups of them there,’ he explained. ‘I feel the UK has lost its way; they should respect our environment. Letting anyone in, mostly men, it’s too many handouts. Everyone is scared. It’s sad really.’

As the Daily Mail witnessed while in these Essex towns, the main problem appears to be that the migrants from Wethersfield have very little to do.

With a £9.95 weekly allowance, they are unable to make meaningful purchases or eat in cafes and restaurants. Instead, they suck at cigarettes on street corners or lounge around enjoying the fresh air and giving off an air of idleness that feels – at least to the people of Essex – provocative at best.

The wider irony in all of this is that our politicians are aware of the issue. Shortly before the 2024 General Election, then Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer recognised that the Wethersfield camp ‘needs to close’.

‘I do know how keenly this is felt locally and understandably so,’ the former Prime Minister added.

But two years on and with a new PM in place – one who has already told the British people that more communities will have to absorb the shock of asylum seekers on their doorsteps – it seems the problem is set to get worse.

The Government has applauded itself for shutting more than 200 asylum hotels since 2023 and allegedly reducing the asylum bill by a £1billion a year. 

But this is rather to miss the point, because once locals no longer feel secure in their towns, it doesn’t matter where migrants are housed or at what cost.

What is clear is that the people of Essex feel the true cost of asylum accommodation is to their safety – and with the Wethersfield site set to welcome 400 additional migrants in the coming months, many are now wondering what will become of these historic local towns already buckling under the weight of fear and suspicion.

– Additional reporting: Isaac Crowson