A once-quiet village in the Low Weald of Kent has been so bedevilled by crime and antisocial behaviour in recent years, it has been dubbed the Wild West.

The large traveller community has been blamed for the problems and the police condemned for not acting. But are things about to change? Simon Finlay reports…

A resident in his early 60s tells a story of the vaguely comical sight of a Headcorn shop owner shooing out two blond-haired lads from his premises with a broom, gesticulating as he did it.

It isn't clear what they had been up to but the boys, no older than 11 or 12, seem to think it is quite a lark. The exasperated look on the grown-up's face indicates something quite different.

It is reminiscent of a saloon owner seeing off drunks in B-movie Western, says the resident.

Ironic that, since the affluent village on the edge of the Weald is now called, by some, the Wild West.

Locally, tales abound of low-level antisocial behaviour, inconsiderate parking, speeding, wanton vandalism, public defecation, drug use, drunkenness, theft from shops and fighting.

One common theme is the growing local traveller community is largely to blame. Another is the lack of a meaningful police presence to deal with it.

But it appears the travellers are being blamed for offending they may not be entirely responsible for.

In the cool, half-light of St Peter and St Paul's church on a Thursday morning, Rev Fiona Haskett bustles in wearing a pack puffer jacket, looking half-drowned.

She has just scurried up the graveyard path in the rain, where the daffodils and snowdrops sit unseasonably side by side this February.

Rev Haskett has been in the village for nine years and is regarded as a hard-working servant of her community who tells it as she sees it, but with calmness and kindness.

"The travellers are a problem. They have always been a problem - but it's not just the travellers, there are Headcorn youngsters who are a problem too," she says.

She witnessed a group of youngsters clearing shelves in the Sainsbury's store before marching out and throwing the loot in the back of a car which drove off.

Business owners rarely challenge shoplifters for fear of the abuse and retribution they might receive. Threats of violence and weapon carrying are not unusual.

Councillor Martin Round, who represents Headcorn on the borough council, treads lightly when it comes to blaming travellers.

"There is evidence of people coming in from the outside to steal from shops knowing the travellers will get the blame and they will not be challenged much less arrested or convicted. There is a rogue element in every society and the travellers round here are no exception," he says.

"But I speak as I find and the vast majority of the gypsy and traveller community are absolutely charming, decent people."

One business owner said he has suffered thefts from a store room and picked up the unedifying spectacle of a young woman "taking a dump" at the back of his premises on CCTV.

He is convinced travellers are the main culprits but he's prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"It's a bit like football supporters. There's loads of people who follow a club but only takes a handful of idiots to tarnish the name of the rest," he says.

But he complains bitterly that the authorities will hold back because they are "terrified" of criticising a minority.

And what of the police?

"They're not interested," he says, "You don't see them and they don't want to tackle the problem."

The road deaths of four men from the travelling community in October 2021 and the wave of universal sympathy over the tragedy had an unexpected consequence, he says.

"Things calmed down in the village for a while. The accident must have been devastating for all of them and everyone was heartbroken for them," he recalls.

"But it didn't last for that long."

A community worker, who asked not to be named, said the lack of police is at the heart of the problem.

‘One thing we do have is respect of our our elders and the young people listen. That's how we sort it out...’

"If you had a pair of bobbies patrolling the village three mornings or afternoons a week, the problem would be fixed or at least contained," he contends.

The worker said that the problem is exacerbated in the spring and summer when there is an influx of "new faces" in the area, which can lead to problems.

One villager, who says he has "no issues with the gypsies", confides trouble around the village is being caused by a relatively small number of people, mostly young.

"We have to be fair," he adds, "If the traveller lads go out and get drunk and get lairy or have a scrap, then people say it's because they're travellers. If it happens in Maidstone between non-travellers, they don't.

"What is surprising is that the traveller families are normally very tight and could sort it themselves, which makes me think there is more to this. Is it really all travellers?

"But they'll get away with it all day long because we do not have enough police around here to deter it."

Ironically, Joseph Jones, director of the Gypsy Council, agrees.

He says: "You get good and bad in all levels of society and ours is no different. The traveller gets the blame for everything - it's been going on for years and years and years.

"If it's fly-tipping, the travellers get the blame. If it's young people getting into mischief, it's often because they're full of testosterone but it's same in all society.

"One thing we do have is respect of our our elders and the young people listen. That's how we sort it out."

A lack of police is an issue, says Mr Jones.

He adds: "Every public service is being starved of funding, including the police. Our community respects the police and the rule of law.

"There are no local bobbies any more. When we were young, the local bobby would be on his bike or grey scooter and would take the time to sit down with us, have a cup of tea or a bacon sandwich.

"He would know every single one of us and it worked well. The only time you see a police officer now is flying by in a car."

On February 15, Cllr Round invited the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott, to Headcorn to see for himself the issues the village faces.

"He's in the picture now," says Cllr Round, with wry smile.

There are moves behind the scenes to get a representative of the traveller community onto the parish council as a bridge between the encampments on the Lenham Road and the settled villagers.

After his visit, Mr Scott says: “I was pleased to hear the positive feedback for the two new beat PCs, who have been working in the town in partnership with the parish council and community warden. I heard some improvement in the response to shop thefts too.

“More resources are being put into neighbourhood policing in the coming weeks which will help boost the presence in local communities further.

“We had helpful conversations about the challenges still being experienced and I will be raising them with Kent Police, as I promised to do, on behalf of both individuals and the businesses I spoke to, so they get the support they need.

“There’s more that can be done and the expanded neighbourhood policing model means more help is on the way.”

The 2011 census recorded a population of 3,387 in Headcorn but a decade on had 4,283.

With the government-driven housing targets, that number is likely to continue growing whether Headcorn wants it to or not.

In April, an application for 120 new homes in the village will be considered and, if approved, will join dozens of other estates built in the name of a need for houses.

What is perhaps less well-recorded are the number of travellers coming and going on the huge caravan parks lining the road to Lenham.

‘There is evidence of people coming in from the outside to steal from shops knowing the travellers will get the blame...’

Cllr Martin Round, says government statistics show there may be as many as 400 static and mobile homes on land in Headcorn's outskirts which equates to an estimated 640 individuals.

Maidstone Borough Council's gypsy and traveller area assessment (GTAA) sees the number of dwellings swelling to 543 pitches, as part of its Local Plan.

Simon McKay of SJM Planning, who handles planning applications and appeals for some Maidstone travellers, blames government policy for not allowing development on green field and flood plains.

"It then funnels into places like Headcorn, Ulcombe, Lenham and Staplehurst where there are no such constraints. It's because the policy directs it. So what do you do?," he asks.

Headcorn will soon be employing its own uniformed community liaison officer funded by the parish council - thought to be the first of its kind in the country.

Chairman of nearby Lenham Parish Council John Britt and his counterpart in in Harrietsham, Eddie Powell, are now giving serious thought about doing the same if, after having lost their police PCSO presence, they also lose their community warden as Kent County Council looks to scale back the service by nearly half to save money.

Cllr Britt says: "The trouble with the new scheme of sharing warranted officers is that they can get hauled away to do other things off patch. The resource is spread thinly."

Professing his "concern" at the lack of rural policing, Cllr Powell says antisocial behaviour is on the increase once more in Harrietsham without a regular police presence.

"You think twice about your behaviour when there's a police car driving around or a community warden in a uniform is about the place," he adds.