With its thatched cottages and leafy lanes ringed by verdant farmland, Creeting St Mary seems an unlikely spot as the setting for Britain’s most bitter school run.
But in recent months police have been called in when several parents suffered punctures after nails and screws were planted on the grass verge.
Before that, according to parents, broken glass and dog faeces were commonly left to deter parking and walking on the verge near the school near Stowmarket, Suffolk.
The long-simmering row has intensified after a spate of vehicle tyres were punctured as a result of the ‘school-run saboteur’ and the village grapevine became obsessed with the whodunnit.
With its leafy lanes ringed by verdant farmland, Creeting St Mary (pictured) seems an unlikely spot as the setting for Britain’s most bitter school run
Parents have found nails planted with the sharp side facing up with many having their tyres damaged
Creating St Mary in Suffolk where parents dropping children off at school have complained of nails being planted on grass verges causing punctures in their cars
MailOnline parked up (a sensible distance away, naturally) and sampled for ourselves the hectic morning run as parents dropped their children at the village’s popular primary school.
The first thing that becomes apparent in Creeting is the lack of pavements along much of the road which winds its way through the village to the school which has a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating and around 100 pupils, roughly half of whom travel by car from other villages.
There’s also a shortage of places for those parents to safely park, so the roadside itself becomes the only option, and twice a day during term-time, for about 20 minutes, All Saints Road itself becomes a makeshift car park snaking through the village with parents and children meandering between the vehicles to and from school.
The vast majority of residents we spoke to were relaxed about the situation.
‘It’s just a fact of life when you’re close to a busy school,’ said one, who didn’t wish to be named. ‘As long as they don’t block off our gateway and park responsibly, I don’t have a problem with it.’
But according to the parents we spoke to, the resident of one particular house near the school does have a problem and has made their feelings very clear with verbal abuse of parents who parked near their house, before matters escalated to booby-trapping the verge with nails and screws.
No-one was in at the house in question when MailOnline called, but every single parent we spoke to characterised the row not as villagers vs parents, but one villager in particular vs pretty much everyone else.
The last report received by Suffolk Police was on September 17. A similar report was lodged in May, when two car tyres were damaged. Another instance of damage to four tyres on the same vehicle was logged between January and May.
The parents of primary-school-age children who walk along the road every morning and afternoon are afraid not only for the health of their tyres but their children. Thankfully, no one has been injured...yet.
‘It’s a lovely school and there’s no need for this kind of aggravation,’ said father of one Peter Dixon, 39, who was dropping off his daughter en route to his job as a car salesman.
‘I’ve never had a puncture, but I avoid the area where the nails and screws have been left and park on the other side of the school.
‘It’s a country area and obviously people are going to drive in from surrounding villages, so there has to be a bit of give and take. Most villagers are very relaxed about the school run to be fair.’
Mums Amy Ling and Emma Oxbrow live a short drive away from the school and drop their children off each morning and pick them up at home time.
Mother-of-two Amy, 38, said she knew people who had been verbally abused in the past by the resident of a house near where the nails and screws were found.
‘If someone had blocked their gateway it would be understandable, but we’re talking about just parking on the roadside. This person seems to think they literally own the road.
‘It’s not as if the school is new – it’s been there for over a century. If you move next to a farm, you’re going to smell it and hear it, and if you move next to a school, there will be a bit of congestion twice a day, it’s a fact of life.’
Screws found planted on the road where parents park to drop their children
Thomas Lehkyj, 33, was dropping off his children and said the parking was ‘a bit chaotic’ sometimes, but most people, parents and villagers, ‘treat each other with respect and consideration.’
Parents dropping children off at school in Creating St Mary in Suffolk where have complained of nails being planted on grass verges causing punctures in their cars
Parents dropping children off at school in Creating St Mary in Suffolk where have complained of nails being planted on grass verges causing punctures in their cars
People have to park on the verges where nails have been planed causing punctures to tires
Mother of two Samantha Reed, 37, said the problem had been going on for years, and she didn’t expect it to end so quickly.
Emma, 42, pointed out the risks to children and dog-walkers from the roadside anti-personnel devices planted in the grass.
‘It’s only by luck that no child or dog has stood on one of these nails or screws, causing potentially horrific injuries,’ she said.
When we visited the village, none of the nails- or screw-traps were apparent, perhaps because the police have taken the matter seriously.
But mother of two Samantha Reed, 37, said the problem had been going on for years, and she didn’t expect it to end so quickly.
‘It’s been five years at least,’ she said. ‘We’ve had broken glass, dog poo, and more recently the nails and screws, embedded in the ground with the point facing upwards.
‘It’s not accidental – this is a deliberate attempt to puncture tyres and they don’t care if a child or a dog gets injured in the process.’
Father of two Thomas Lehkyj, 33, was dropping off his children and said the parking was ‘a bit chaotic’ sometimes, but most people, parents and villagers, ‘treat each other with respect and consideration.’
He added: ‘From what I’ve been told, it’s just one person, rather than some kind of “Hot Fuzz”-style gang of vigilantes running around with nails, but it’s caused a lot of worry and aggravation to parents.
‘It’s just all so unnecessary. It’s part and parcel of living near a country school. We drive in from about 10 to 15 minutes away, and so do lots of others.
‘All it needs is a bit of give and take on both sides and the problem would go away.’
Another mum, who asked not to be named, added: ‘Given all that is going on in the world and the country right now, it’s bonkers to be getting so upset about parking outside a school, but in the minds of some people, minor problems grow out of all proportion I suppose.’
The hectic morning run as parents dropped their children at the village’s popular primary school
‘It’s a lovely school and there’s no need for this kind of aggravation,’ said father of one Peter Dixon, 39
‘It’s only by luck that no child or dog has stood on one of these nails or screws, causing potentially horrific injuries,’ Emma, 42 said.
One of the school’s teaching assistants, Amy Banthorpe, 32, warned that healthy activity was being threatened by the risk from sharp objects hidden on the route
The villages parish council clerk, Jennie Blackburn, confirmed the nails and screws appeared to have been placed deliberately.
One of the school’s teaching assistants, Amy Banthorpe, 32, warned that healthy activity was being threatened by the risk from sharp objects hidden on the route.
Its slightly unhinged really that someone is doing this and our biggest concern really is that a child is going to get severely injured, she said.
Its horrendous and quite shocking to us all and seems people have not thought through the potential risks - a tyre could blow out and it could be catastrophic.
The villages parish council clerk, Jennie Blackburn, confirmed the nails and screws appeared to have been placed deliberately.
She said: As soon as theyre picked up, more are found in the day or two afterwards.
‘The school contacted me and said another nine nails had been found on the verge and the heads had been pushed into the ground, so the nail was pointing upwards.
This has arisen from parking issue in the village - the same as many rural schools, that parking is an issue. The council has been trying to find land to help with parking.
Suffolk Police confirmed they had received reports of attempted criminal damage and criminal damage, with the most recent on September 17.
The report was that nails or screws had been placed in the upwards direction along All Saints Road, near to the primary school, a spokesman said.
A similar report was received in the same area in May, which damaged two car tyres, while another report has also been received of damage of vehicle tyres (one vehicle) on four occasions between January and May of this year.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.