Anger as 'boomerang' spikes rupture car tyres

Drivers have spent hundreds of pounds fixing damaged tyres after metal spikes were "deliberately" scattered on roads.

The blades called caltrops are "in the shape of a boomerang". They were found on Stonehenge Road and Holders Road in Amesbury, according to police.

A Wiltshire Police spokesperson said: "Multiple vehicles have suffered ruptured tyres and complete deflations as a result of driving over these, which are thought to have been deliberately placed on the highway in the local area."

Natalie Alexander said she spent £440 on replacing damaged tyres, adding: "You can't get reimbursed from your insurance as it's not an accident. It's frustrating."

A force spokesperson added: "These items have been identified as caltrops. They are constructed from sharp nails or spikes arranged so that one point always faces upward."

Alexander said she drove over the caltrops near Durrington Roundabout. By the time she got home to Larkhill, her tyre was flat.

"I had been worried if we'd make it home," said Alexander.

"When we did, I opened the car door and saw air coming out of the tyre. My son Logan had a look and felt the metal spike."

It took six days for her tyres to be fixed.

Her car also sustained a flat tyre close to Christmas, with a metallic spike suspected to be the cause.

Alexander, who works in a bar, added: "We are not a high-income family so this has been a real inconvenience.

"If somebody is deliberately going out of their way by putting these really dangerous things on the road, damaging cars, potentially putting pedestrians and animals at risk - it's just really frustrating.

"There's no need for it, we're all living in the same economic crisis so it's just an additional cost that no-one really needs."

Wiltshire Police said the spikes pose a risk to drivers, horses, cyclists, wildlife and pedestrians.

Officers on patrols on Tuesday also recovered five caltrops by the junction of West Amesbury and Stonehenge Road.

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