Five arrested over £100k wrecking spree at brewery

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. 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 211year-old brewery. The decision to close the site earlier than planned angered locals.

Yesterday Thwaites, which is currently preparing for its move to a new £12million complex four miles away, welcomed the progress of the police investigation. A spokesman said: ‘Where people have committed criminal acts, it’s of paramount importance that the police ensure those responsible are held accountable for their actions.’

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