Police turnip the heat in hunt for veggie vandals

23rd Jan 2020

Devon and Cornwall Police were left stewing when a swede smashed into their vehicle’s windscreen while driving at speed.

The incident is the latest in a spate of attacks that have seen 17 motorists pelted with large vegetables on the A380 in Devon since November last year.

The Armed Response Vehicle (ARV) targeted in Sunday’s attack was responding to a 999 call when £500 worth of damage was inflicted on the vehicle.

An officer from the ARV unit announced that passengers in the vehicle were “fine, but very annoyed” and unable to attend their emergency.

A police spokesperson said: “A substantial amount of damage has been caused to vehicles and this has the potential to cause a serious accident.”

Last month, a Range Rover driver was left with £1,000 worth of damage after a swede struck his SUV near the Penn Inn flyover on the A380.

Driver Steve Anderson said: "If it had gone through my window I'd be dead, I could have been killed.

"It also could have forced me to swerve and hit other cars, it was so dangerous."

He is offering a £250 reward for anyone with information that leads to a prosecution in relation to the incident.

In a third incident, driver Paula Clifford reported being hit by a football-sized turnip from an overhead bridge.

She said: "I was in absolute shock. I got to my friend’s house and just burst into tears - I couldn't use the phone to call the police because I was shaking so much.

"It was definitely some sort of vegetable, either a swede or a turnip. There will be a fatality soon, it's scary."

Police are keen to get to the root of the problem and are hoping to talk to anybody with information on the vandals.

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