American B52 bombers have been recently moved to RAF Fairford. In the event of war they will be used to "carpet bomb" Iraq. The two protesters reasoned the bombers would be very closely guarded. However they guessed the "Achilles Heel" might be the fleet of specialist support vehicles that are used to service, refuel, and load bombs onto the planes. If they could disable these vehicles they would ground the whole bomber fleet until the vehicles were repaired, or replacements brought in from elsewhere in the UK or America.

On Thursday night they travelled to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Under cover of darkness, they evaded police patrols which have been using "Section 60" powers of stop & search they made their way to the perimeter fence. Their plan was to cut the perimeter fence, then make their way to the garages used to house the support vehicles. They found them unguarded. They planned to stick labels onto all the vehicles to warn they had been tampered with. They carried with them bags of sugar to contaminate their fuel, grinding paste & treacle to add to the oil systems, spikes to puncture their tyres, and crowbars & hammers to damage the vehicles. In total some thirty to thirty-five vehicles were damaged, many of them severely. The vehicles included three fuel tankers and a large number of low-loaders used to carry bombs to the aircraft. Damage included cutting hydraulic lines, brake pipes, cutting electrical cables, slashing tyres, and breaking dials & windows. In court it was admitted that it would be some time before the full cost of the damage would not be known, such was the number of vehicles involved the base had not had time to inspect them all fully.

Speaking from Stoud Police Station in the early hours of this morning Dr Margaret Jones said: "Security was so slack that when we finished trashing all the vehicles in the garages we cut our way into the main base and did three more. At one point a patrol came within a few yards of us, but drove off again into the darkness. With our politicians out of democratic control it is up to ordinary citizens to stop the war machine. I could not bear the thought of these bombers taking off from our country, flying thousands of miles to Iraq, and dropping their cargoes of death on ordinary people. We felt we personally had to do what we could to stop them. We are proud to plead lawful-excuse for our actions and feel the majority of the British public are with us. It is the British and American Governments which are acting both immorally and illegally. It was our right to do what was in our power to stop them."

The spectacular disarmament action comes just three days after Trident Ploughshares activist Ulla Roder inflicted severe damage, estimated in millions of pounds, to a Tornado jet at RAF Leuchars in Fife.

More information and interviews:

Rowland Dye, press agent for Dr Margaret Jones 07711-214-168

Rachael Milling, press agent for Paul Milling 0121-471-5016

The defendants, both members of the non-violent direct action group Trident Ploughshares are concerned with the illegality, immorality and the dangers of nuclear weapons to health and the environment of the present day and of the future.

For more information about Trident Ploughshares contact David Mackenzie (0845) 45 88 366 www.tridentploughshares.org