Five men arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences near RAF Fairford are being released on police bail, according to counter-terrorism police.
A major incident was declared, and dozens of homes were evacuated after police were alerted to three “suspicious vehicles” close to the Gloucestershire airbase in the early hours of Sunday, BBC reports.
Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) said officers are pursuing “multiple lines of inquiry”, including whether the suspects were acting as proxies or on behalf of a foreign state.
The men, all UK nationals from London aged in their 20s, were initially detained on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act before being further arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.
Police said the five remain under investigation and that their release on bail is subject to “stringent conditions” governing their movements and contact with others.
Three of the suspects, aged between 23 and 25, live in Westminster, while one lives in Camden and another in Willesden.
A farmer who reported the three white vans in the village of Whelford, directly east of the base, said it was “pure luck” that she spotted them and called 999.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she returned home to find the driveway and road blocked by a large group of hooded and masked men.
“When they saw me, they ran ahead of me, some into a nearby field and others towards the neighbouring village of Kempsford. I then realised something highly unusual was taking place,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
She said she tried to contact the Ministry of Defence Police at RAF Fairford but received no response. She then called 999 at 1:36am BST, adding that “within 10 minutes the village was full of armed police”.
“I believe that my 999 call foiled whatever plans they had,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said on Monday that three “suspicious vehicles” had undergone extensive examination with support from military personnel and forensic specialists.
He said officers were investigating the incident from “every possible angle”, including the possibility that it involved proxies or individuals knowingly or unknowingly acting on behalf of a foreign state.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham chaired a Cobra meeting on Monday and urged the public “not to speculate while the authorities establish the full facts”.
