A group of travellers wrecked a multi-million pound police
helicopter which was being used to spy on their site.
The gang used axes to smash the £5million aircraft,
after they leapt over a 4ft wall surrounding Surrey Police
force’s helipad at Fairoaks airport, near Woking in
Surrey.
After threatening staff working in the operations room, they
set about wrecking the helicopter, smashing six of its windows
and causing tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
The incident happened at 10pm yesterday after weeks of aerial
surveillance on the travellers’ site, where detectives
believe stolen goods have been hidden.
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Officers were getting ready to raid the site after collecting
evidence they had filmed from the air.
A police source said last night: 'The gipsies were furious
because they kept getting buzzed by the helicopter.
'But no one expected this level of violence.
'Before a raid is conducted we will observe the criminals
from the air. That way we get an idea what we are likely to
find, identify suspects and locate entrances and exits. Maybe
we got too low.'
