Princess Diana’s cousin catches man trashing Stop Lime Down posters

Princess Diana’s cousin caught a man trashing Stop Lime Down posters in the countryside near Malmesbury.

After hiding in nearby bushes, The Hon Hugh Roche photographed a Lycra-clad cyclist vandalising placards opposing the controversial plans.

Named Lime Down, the solar development will cover farmland in an area of north Wiltshire approximately the size of 1,250 football pitches if approved.

Hugh from ‘Stop Lime Down’ turned detective and waited in bushes near Malmesbury to catch the vandal who the campaign group thought had stuck before.

He took photos of a lycra-clad cyclist pulling down the signs then followed him in his car and filmed a confrontation.

The incident was reported to Wiltshire Police and the man was initially interviewed and later signed a community resolution.

He had to pay £71.97 for the signs damaged on June 30 last year and had to undertake an online thinking skills course.

The man on the bike was later named in the media as Angus Craig and spoke publicly about the incident.

Mr Craig, who works for a green energy firm linked to backers of the Lime Down development, told the Mail Online he was ‘struck by the campaign against Lime Down which seems to be well-funded’.

He said: “I think it’s more about trying to whip up emotional support about vague notions of the country being taken over by solar.

“I don’t quite understand why the police pursued it.

“There are people protesting peacefully all around the country and they at times may take down signs.

”Quite why taking down a sign in Wiltshire is noteworthy for the police is a surprise.”

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said: “We investigated reports that signs had been criminally damaged in Foxley Green on June 30, 2024.

“A 53-year-old man from Malmesbury admitted to causing the damage and was dealt with by means of a community resolution.

“He agreed to pay the victim £71.97 to cover the cost of replacing the signs.”

The campaign group are battling Lime Down Solar development – a 2,200 acre industrial complex.

Stop Lime Down says its posters have been vandalised, torn down, ripped and defaced with words such as ‘NIMBY’.

After nearly a full year of campaigning against not only the developers, but their neighbours, the campaign group are still unsure of the outcome.

Taken in June last year, campaigner Hugh had decided to set up a camera on a tripod on a fence in a field one Sunday.

The campaign group said: “We had previously noted that every Sunday, between 1-3pm, the signs were getting ruined by Hallavington, then to Sherston, then back through Foxley – and we started to clock it.

“I was determined to catch the little b******, and that’s why I chose this place to stake him out.”

Creating a hide with a camera, Hugh saw several people going past – but after around 15 minutes, they looked up and saw a man cycling up to the signs.

The campaigner said: “I saw this guy who got off his bike, snapped the signs in half, then mount back on his bike and p***** off.

“I took some good pictures of him, then I went across the common, got in my car and joined the road.

“The car, which subsequently fell apart afterwards, helped me to reach him – and I videoed him, catching him red handed.”

Mr Roche added that he does want to “progress the challenge of climate change.”

Mr Craig was listed on LinkedIn as a procurement director for Gridserve, a company set up in 2017 to develop, own and operate critical infrastructure for sustainable energy production.

It is installing electric vehicle charging points at 150 Roadchef sites after the motorway service firm was purchased by Australian asset management company Macquarie, which is also part-owner of Island Green Power, the firm behind Lime Down.

The industrial proposal would see 2,200 acres of four-and-a-half-metre high solar panels across several sites in Wiltshire – as well as “enormous” battery storage units and cabling in the “peaceful and tranquil” countryside.

Including the cabling, the total project acreage would amount to 7,000.

The plans have been backed by the Duke of Beaufort, as part of the solar complex would be housed on the Duke’s 52,000-acre Badminton estate in Gloucestershire.

The Duke – dubbed “Bunter of Badminton” is worth an estimated £300 million and is friends with King Charles, whose private residence Highgrove is nine miles away.

Stop Lime Down campaign group express how they not NIMBYs – but instead are fighting a ‘David and Goliath’ battle.

One campaigner called January, said: “We are CANBYS – people who care about our back yard.

“We’re not Nimby, we’re whistleblowers.

“In a year of relentless campaigning people have come together: organising and paying for our signs and placards, coming up with logos, putting them out to the community.

“But the first tactic against us has been intimidation – signs going missing, being teared down and vandalised.

“You have an 88 per cent opposition to this disastrous industrial scheme and yet it is still being considered.

“These are seriously high-up, powerful people we are up against – and they are just taking and transferring wealth from their neighbours.”

The campaign group have claimed the developers have “simply enticed landowners who have no regard for their neighbours”.

A spokesperson claimed: “There are just nine landowners benefiting from this scheme which include the Duke of Beaufort, Badminton estate, a Count and Countess, and other’s who reside at the Manor Houses of the villages they are affecting.

“Many have never farmed the land themselves and there will be 10 tenant farmers being removed off these sites.”

A local resident, who has lived in the area for over 20 years, said the whole experience has been “horrible” and “divisive”.

She explained: “People who you think are your neighbours, your friends, people you have been going to the pub with for years – have actually been going behind your back.

“Landowners have been driven by greed.”

The Hon Hugh Roche is a grandson of Baroness Fermoy, a friend and confidante of the late Queen Mother.

Speaking at his home in Malmesbury on Thursday Mr Craig said he did not wish to comment further.

It was previously reported that he said he was acting in a personal capacity.