Suspects arrested in letter-bomb case

Three suspects in a spate of animal-rights bomb attacks were arrested yesterday in Cheshire, police said.

Three suspects in a spate of animal-rights bomb attacks were arrested yesterday in Cheshire, police said.

During the arrests, detectives recovered three letter-bombs destined for addresses in North Yorkshire, West Mercia and Wiltshire. The bombs were later made safe by bomb disposal experts.

Two men, aged 26 and 36, and a woman aged 31 were arrested in separate raids in the Crewe area, a spokeswoman for the Cheshire Constabulary said.

Eleven businesses associated with the agricultural industry have been hit by letter-bombs thought by police to have been sent by animal-rights activists.

Three people have been injured in the attacks. The six-year-old daughter of the owner of a pest-control business in Congleton, Cheshire, suffered leg wounds on New Year's Eve. A farmer in Ripon suffered facial injuries, and an estate agency employee at Patrington, East Yorkshire, had her eye seriously damaged on the same day in January.

Other attacks have been aimed at an agricultural company in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, a farm on the Scottish borders, an agricultural supply shop in Sheffield and a charity organisation in Lytham St Anne's, Lancashire. Packages have also been sent to a pet supplier at Newcastle upon Tyne, a north Wales fish-and-chip shop, a Coventry pet store and a company connected with the agricultural business in Masham, North Yorkshire.