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Police investigate barbed wire 'booby trap' stretched across country lane

'It was something out of Mad Max'

Matt Payton
Sunday 13 March 2016 17:24 GMT
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The barbed wire trap found across a Kent footpath
The barbed wire trap found across a Kent footpath (Daniel Webster)

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Police are investigating a neatly cut barbed wire stretched across a country lane at chest height that a cyclist narrowly avoided crashing into.

Daniel Webster, 39, was mountain biking near Hollingbourne in Kent when he came across the trap on a hill.

The father-of-two noted the wire between two trees was "neatly cut and stretched tight".

He told Kent Messenger: "It was something out of Mad Max, it was definitely a trap."

Mr Webster was doing his normal route in reverse and was cycling up the hill instead of down the slope at 20mph.

He says: "I was riding with my head down and I happened to look up when a glint caught my eye and I realised something was stretched across the road.

"The wire was tied between two trees. It was neatly cut and stretched tight.

The trap was secured tight at chest height
The trap was secured tight at chest height (Daniel Webster)

The mountain biker added: "I normally come the other way down the hill but I had decided to do it in reverse.

"I would have been going at 20 mph and I would never have seen it. I would never have stood a chance"

Kent Police officers are now currently investigating the incident

Images of the trap taken by Mr Webster have since beenshared thousands of times.

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