Midsomer suffers fresh crime wave – mysterious strawberry and raspberry thefts

FOR many people, the name Midsomer conjures up images of Chief Inspector Barnaby scurrying around a sleepy English village attempting to solve yet another murder.

But for the true residents of Midsomer, the real crime is taking place on their fruit and vegetable allotments.

The allotments of Midsomer Norton, Somerset, are being plagued by thieves taking hoards of strawberries and raspberries, which gardeners believe are being sold on for a tidy sum.

Allotment holders in the town are now considering installing CCTV after the patch was “methodically” targeted to steal strawberries and other fruit from six plots.

Paul Myers, the town mayor, has urged people to be vigilant after claiming someone was “systematically” stealing the fruit. He said: “Large quantities of fruit are being stolen from people’s gardens. Something is going on. There may be someone systematically stealing it and selling it on.”

Mr Myers flagged it up after reports of numerous thefts of objects from gardens in nearby Timsbury.

Midsomer Murders is actually filmed in Oxfordshire, but it is believed that script writer Anthony Horowitz chose the name Midsomer after looking at a map of Somerset and thought it sounded quintessentially English. In a bid to curtail the thefts, Brian Snellgrove, who oversees the allotments, has put up a number of notices around the plot, but said they are unable to lock the gates as people need access.

“I feel this is a violation,” he said. “I feel irritated and annoyed. But I do think it’s quite an amateur crime carried out by a person of rather low intelligence. We have put up some threatening notices, saying we know who they are and we know what they’re doing, but if it does continue, we will consider getting CCTV and involving the appropriate authorities.”

Mr Snellgrove, 74, added that he had been at the allotment for five years, but had never known of anyone stealing from the plots, labelling it as a rather “unusual crime” and that strawberries were a “glamorous” target.

Police say they are unable to respond to incidents if they are not reported.