Village's poison pen letters to be investigated

People say they have been "terrorised" by the letters for two years

A spate of "hateful" letters that have "terrorised" villagers for two years will be investigated, police have confirmed.

Residents in and around Shiptonthorpe in East Yorkshire said the poison pen letters delivered through their letterboxes were “personal, obscene and targeted”.

The BBC understands 15 people have been targeted by the correspondence, which is a mixture of handwritten and typed.

Humberside Police said there was an "ongoing investigation with various lines of inquiry under way".

Shiptonthorpe is home to approximately 500 people

The letters have seen Shiptonthorpe dubbed a "village of poison".

The saga is reminiscent of the scandalous letters that blighted the seaside town of Littlehampton in Sussex in the spring of 1920, which sparked a House of Commons debate and comedy drama Wicked Little Letters, starring Olivia Colman.

Sophie - not her real name – said she had received her first letter in December 2022, which accused her of being a “loose woman”.

Her partner Sam - not his real name - received a letter claiming to be from a friend, urging him “to be honest” with himself and to stop Sophie from "roaming".

It was signed: “From a caring dear friend."

Humberside Police made inquiries into both letters at the time.

In October, Shiptonthorpe's parish council chairman Victor Lambert, who said he had received letters after the parish council election in May 2023, suggested he knew who the culprit was.

He said the letters had become "more vile", "even to the point of wishing harm to me".

Humberside Police confirmed it was investigating and urged anyone with information to get in touch.

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