No explosives found in three vans searched near RAF Fairford, say police

Armed police at a checkpoint near RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PAView image in fullscreenArmed police at a checkpoint near RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PANo explosives found in three vans searched near RAF Fairford, say policeHead of Counter Terrorism Policing defends decision to bail five British men arrested in connection with incident

No explosive devices were found in three vans searched near RAF Fairford as part of a terrorism investigation but a quantity of petrol was recovered, police have said.

Five British nationals were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning after a resident living near the Gloucestershire airbase reported suspicious activity involving three vans.

Defending the decision to bail the men, Laurence Taylor, the head of Britain’s Counter Terrorism Policing, said: “Yesterday we released the five men on police bail. They remain under investigation and must adhere to strict conditions while we continue our work. The safety of the public is at the forefront of our investigative decision making, and this was certainly the case yesterday.

“I understand why this development will have come as a surprise to many, but I’d like to reiterate that it was an investigative decision, and one which is grounded in experience and careful consideration of policing powers.”

Taylor said of the van: “Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination, with the support of military assets and forensic experts, and we can confirm that no improvised explosive devices were found. However, a quantity of petrol was recovered.”

The vans were marked by the logo of a legitimate fuel transit company that later denied ownership of the vehicles, which prompted speculation online and in the local community that the men could have been fuel thieves.

Residents were returning home on Tuesday after spending days evacuated from their village.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, claimed the events were the work of a “foreign actor” but did not provide further details. He said “a lot of people are disturbed” after the release of the suspects from custody. Donald Trump had earlier said he was “surprised” the group had been freed.

Speculation has been growing about a connection between the weekend’s incident and Iran. The potential link was a key reason behind Andy Burnham’s decision to call a meeting of Cobra, the government’s crisis committee, on Monday, attended by senior police and security officials among others.

The same day Taylor said he knew there was “significant interest in whether the current geopolitical context has a bearing on this incident”.

He added: “But be assured, we are considering this from every possible angle, including that this may be actively committed by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state.”

In March the British government gave the US permission to use the base for “specific defensive operations into Iran”.

The country’s London embassy has said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the recent unfounded and malicious speculations” of Iranian involvement.

Eighty-five households were forced to decamp to a leisure centre on Sunday as the bomb squad and counter-terror police descended on the village of Whelford, where five British nationals were arrested for terror and explosives-related offences.

Mark Richings, a butcher in Fairford, told the Press Association: “There’s no change in here and we just got on with it as normal. We are a bit quieter today, but everybody seems to be OK, and we are having a bit of a chat about it.

“We just carried on as normal. We have enough to do to occupy our minds. If anything did happen, there isn’t a lot we could have done about it.”

Some of the evacuated residents were able to stay with families, about 60 people received support from a Cotswold district council rest centre in Cirencester and 28 people were accommodated overnight in hotels.

Father Michael Robertson, the priest at the nearby St Thomas Catholic church, told PA: “A lot of parishioners didn’t think they could get to church. Those that came were worried but perfectly happy with the situation.

“In fact, quite a lot of Americans who have deployed here actually come to mass and some of the permanently deployed Americans are full members of the parish. We’re quite contented with the situation generally. Obviously, the disruption upsets people.”