Five men arrested in RAF Fairford incident released on police bail

Five men who were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences near RAF Fairford are being released on police bail, counter-terror police have said.



A major incident was declared and dozens of homes were evacuated after police were alerted to three "suspicious vehicles" near the airbase in Gloucestershire in the early hours of Sunday morning.



Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) said officers were exploring "multiple lines of inquiry", including whether proxies or individuals working on behalf of a foreign state were involved.



The five men are all UK nationals in their 20s from London.



They were initially detained on suspicion of committing offences under the Explosives Act and then further arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act.

Counter-terror police said they remained under investigation and their release was "subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others".

Three of the men live in Westminster, one in Camden and another in Willesden, police said, and they are aged between 23 and 25.



A farmer who called 999 to report the three white vans in the village of Whelford, which lies directly east of the base, told the BBC it was "pure luck" that she spotted them.