In Exmoor, according to the locals, the villages are dying. House prices are inflated by competition from the London wealthy; and houses are left empty for most of the year. Furthermore, when they're being used, the owners lack charm.

'We accept they lead a different life, but some behave as if we don't exist when our families go back hundreds of years. They treat us as if we're idiots or country bumpkins. And their manners - don't get me started!'

No, really. Don't get the locals started. Because - according to this - there's a bit of armed struggle in the air. Somebody's shooting fashion and restaurant gazillionaire Richard Caring's stags, and leaving them to die slowly. The Daily Mail's Jane Fryer asks around the village, and although nobody actually knows anything, there's a spooky, post-Wicker Man, post-Deliverance sense that the community's turning against Caring. It's an interesting piece.

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