Dear Editor,

In response to Annie Hill, Denise Poole, and Ben Moss’ letters in the October issue of the Chew Valley Gazette, regarding an article that mentioned, pictured and quoted me in the November issue about illegal migrants (yes, illegal) being housed in Winford Manor.

Having young men, and groups of young men wandering about on my property, laying out on my lawn, and using my land as a toilet is not acceptable to me, and having my wife, and young children too scared to go too far from the house to play on our own land is depressing to say the least.

So, Ms Hill, you say you’re not aware of their existence, so for you to minimise or disregard my experience is just ignorant. Perhaps you should get out a bit more, try walking up Old Hill at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, there’s a fair chance you will bump into some of these groups of men. Perhaps you’ve not read about the unprovoked attacks, stabbings, rapes and killings that have occurred throughout this country, and Europe perpetrated by undocumented migrants who have entered illegally. So yes, I have felt harassed and intimidated when confronted by up to five of these young men near my house, which is 200 yards from the road. Also, for your information, I am not a racist which you try and insinuate I am — this has nothing to do with race it has to do with illegal unknown men.

Ms Poole. Yes, I’m concerned what might happen, it’s too late to be concerned after the fact. Perhaps you should get your head out of the sand and open your eyes as to what has happened to many, many victims of undocumented illegal migrants. All the security cameras in the world won’t stop it happening, they just help police catch the culprits, which is little comfort if you’ve been raped or murdered. If you’d like to see evidence of trespass from all my security cameras, as you put it, please feel free to get in touch.

Ben Moss. What I’ve said represents my, and my family’s lived experiences. What is the misinformation that is spread in the media you talk about? Are you in denial of people being attacked, stabbed, raped and killed, or are you in favour of sweeping it all under the carpet and pretending it doesn’t exist? I think you are in for a very big shock one day.

As it is apparent that some of your readers are blissfully unaware of the illegal migrants I decided to submit a request under the freedom of information act to the police, to find out how many times they have had to attend at Winford Manor. They have confirmed that between May 1, 2021 to November 12, 2025 police have had to attend a total of 49 times…What’s that, about once a month, how would you like that down in Winford village at your neighbour’s house Ms Hill, Mr Moss? Would you think it “pathetic” to be concerned, no matter what colour the face?

We were told at an open meeting held by the council in Felton village hall that the manor would be used for two years to house migrant families, it is now 3.7 years, and it is housing mostly undocumented illegal young men, who do not travel to Bristol to learn English.

Tony Gould

Winford