| | |
|
| COLONY OF CAR SPOTTERS DISCOVERED LIVING WITHIN MAJOR ROUNDABOUT ON M25
posted 21 January 2006 09:39
(Source: Reuters) |  |
| |
|
| Hertfordshire police constabulary has discovered a colony of people living in a woodland area within the perimeter of one of the UK's major traffic systems. | |
|
|
Warning: getimagesize(images/X2092Y800S25W500H300-1.gif) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/blakey/public_html/generate.php on line 56
| The South Mimms roundabout near Potters Bar links two of the country's major motorways, the M25 and the A1M, 15 miles north of London. It is known to be one of the largest in Europe, and boasts an impressive woodland area within its boundaries. |  |
| |
|
| | Stunned local councilors were recently made aware that the group of more than a dozen adults have been living in a permanent dwelling on the site since as far back as 1987, and have remained invisible to the authorities until last week. |  |
| |
|
| | "It's become a lifestyle for these people" sources close to the men have stated. "They simply became obsessed with searching for rare cars. What originally started out as some regular camping expeditions with camera equipment turned into a permanent lifestyle choice for these people". |  |
| |
|
| The community consists of several tents and small huts situated close together, and one tall "look-out" building constructed of stone which is used as a vantage point. It also doubles up as the principle centre of commerce for the colony.
None of them are visible from the road on any part of the roundabout, which is why they have remained unnoticed all this time. |  |
| |
|
| The colony. mostly made up of adult males aged 25 to 40, had been existing on a diet consisting almost entirely of discarded meals taken from diners tables at the South Mimms service station, just across the road. | |
|
Warning: getimagesize(images/village4.jpg) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/blakey/public_html/generate.php on line 160
Warning: getimagesize(images/village6.jpg) [function.getimagesize]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/blakey/public_html/generate.php on line 162
|
|
| Police said in a statement: "These idiots have taken their obsession to a ridiculous level. People living inside a motorway roundabout and crossing it to get rations is just an accident waiting to happen"
Despite this claim, no incident or complaint had been reported during their time on the site, until last week. | |
|
| When confronted by jpurnalists, one squatter stated: "You simply cannot get a better spot in the UK for car spotting. It's really quite rural out here on the M25 / A1 intersection. No one ever notices you're here, and we're not doing anyone any harm".
Another man exclaimed "you can get away with murder here", before being quickly ushered away by his fellow colleagues. |  |
| |
|
| Police moved in last week when two motorists driving an MGB had pulled onto the hard shoulder having broken down. Some of the car enthusiasts approached the man and after a short conversation about the car the dialogue became heated, until a fight broke out.
| |
|
| "They started taking the mick out of our MG" said the owner. "They were saying things like "I'm not surprised that heap of s*** has broken down" and "that's not a sports car, it's a Sherpa van with rubbish bodywork bolted on top".
"It seemed apparent that these men had been drinking" said the other motorist.
|  |
| |
|
| It appears that often they will drink a lot of Red Bull which has been discarded by truckers from the local service station, especially late at night. Then things tend to turn a little fragile.
The case continues. | |
|
|
)
)
)