Five held over £100k wrecking spree at brewery by travellers

FIVE men were arrested in a dawn raid yesterday over a £100,000 wrecking spree at a historic brewery.

A group of around 100 travellers had provoked fury by trespassing on to the Thwaites Brewery in Blackburn over the last Bank Holiday weekend.

Wiring had been stripped, offices trashed and human waste left on carpets. The site was badly damaged and 1,700 pints of ale had to be poured away over fears the intruders had deliberately contaminated them.

From the Mail, June 16 Police were also criticised for escorting the group on to a nearby motorway when they finally agreed to leave. Yesterday’s raid was made at an illegal camp in Leverhulme Park, Bolton, 12 miles from the brewery.

Locals said they had been unable to use the park after seven caravans arrived over the weekend, with complaints about aggressive dogs and antisocial behaviour.

Following the ransacking, family business Thwaites had to end production at the 211-year-old brewery. The decision to close the site earlier than planned angered locals.

Thwaites is currently preparing for its move to a new £12million complex four miles away and insisted none of its pubs would run dry in the meantime.

Yesterday it welcomed the progress of the police investigation.

‘Where people have committed criminal acts, it’s of paramount importance that the police ensure those responsible are held accountable for their actions,’ a spokesman said.

‘We are pleased that the police have made progress with their investigation and made these arrests. We hope it will lead to prosecutions.’

Debbie Newall, a local councillor in Breightmet, said the illegal camp had caused major disruption.

‘It’s a real shame for people living here that they haven’t been able to use this beautiful park during the lovely weather, but you can understand that they feel intimidated,’ she said.

She said council officers had served the travellers with an order to quit the site and only four caravans remained yesterday.

‘Hopefully they will be gone soon and staff can clean up the site,’ she added.

Lancashire Police described the raid as a ‘pre-planned operation’ following the probe into ‘large scale damage and disruption caused by travellers at Thwaites Brewery’.

A man aged 43 was arrested on suspicion of burglary and blackmail along with a man aged 33 on suspicion of burglary and shoplifting and three other men aged 32, 21 and 21 on suspicion of burglary.

Assistant Chief Constable Jo Edwards said: ‘The incidents at Thwaites over the Bank Holiday weekend understandably caused a huge amount of upset and anger in the local community and we recognise that.

‘We have had a dedicated team of officers working hard behind the scenes to identify those responsible for causing these unacceptable criminal acts and this morning’s activity is just the latest stage in our ongoing investigation.’