Hate posters plastered over Barns Green

Posters with hateful messages have been plastered all over Barns Green.
Posters put up in Barns GreenPosters put up in Barns Green
Posters put up in Barns Green

Sussex Police said it had launched a hate crime investigation after posters were put up around the village with slogans written in German about gypsies and travellers.

The posters included messages such as ‘Gypsies forbidden’ and ‘you need to comply at all times’.

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Penny Simpson, chairman of Barns Green Parish Council, said the posters were anti-establishment signs and believed they had been put up by a group outside the village in response to a planning decision to close a gypsy and traveller site at Kingfisher Farm.

A public inquiry was launched into the site earlier this summer after Horsham District Council issued enforcement notices in 2016.

At an appeal last month a planning inspector supported the district and the parish councils’ recommendations to close the site and return the land to agricultural use following breaches of planning control.

Mrs Simpson said: “Everything that has been done has been done through the due process of law.

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“They are not anti-traveller signs they are anti-Nazi signs accusing the establishment of Barns Green of being anti-traveller.”

She said the parish council was very upset and condemned the posters adding there was another traveller site just outside the village which had integrated into the local community very well.

Mrs Simpson added: “The posters are anti-establishment, it’s almost like it’s wanting to cause anarchy.

“The message is to stay calm and not let outside influences upset our community.”

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Officers said an investigation was underway to find those responsible for the hateful posters.

In response police will be increasing patrols in the area and have also issued an appeal for information.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police online or call 101 quoting reference 245 of 08/10.