A 62-year-old woman was arrested today by detectives investigating the theft of the body from a Staffordshire graveyard, police said.

The woman was detained in the Burton-upon-Trent area by officers investigating the desecration, which is thought to have been the work of animal rights extremists.

The remains of Gladys Hammond, 82, were taken between 8pm on October 5 and 8am on October 6 from the cemetery at St Peter's Church in Yoxall, Staffordshire.

A Staffordshire police spokeswoman said: "In a pre-planned operation, Staffordshire Police have this morning arrested a 62-year-old woman at her home. The woman was taken to Burton police station, where she will be interviewed today. Two men, aged 41 and 34, who were arrested on 14th October remain on police bail."

Mrs Hammond's body has not been found. She was the mother-in-law of Chris Hall, who runs a guinea-pig farm in Yoxall, near Burton-upon-Trent, which has been relentlessly targeted by animal rights extremists.

Mr Hall and his family, backed by neighbours in the village and surrounding parishes, will tomorrow ask the High Court for an unprecedented injunction against a campaign of intimidation culminating in the theft of the corpse.

The family is following the lead of Oxford University and Huntingdon Life Sciences by applying for a protest-free exclusion zone around their property. But for the first time, the community has rallied behind a company seeking a court order of this kind by adding an application for its own injunction to protect the parishes surrounding the farm.

Peter Clamp, who runs a haulage business, is bringing the injunction on behalf of the villagers of Yoxall, Newchurch and Newborough, where he lives. If successful, the joint exclusion zone will be one of the largest granted, covering seven parishes and an area of nearly 30 square kilometres.

Mr Clamp, who is also a parish councillor, said that members of the community were the victims of terrorism and had been left terrified by protesters. "This country needs someone to stand up against these minority protesters and I'm part of the injunction as a resident of the community," he said.

"The residents need a spokesperson. Enough is enough. The police have given me support and said there could be ramifications, but I'm prepared for that. I'm not a soft touch and won't be intimidated by anyone, and I'm not going to tolerate this sort of behaviour.

"I'm sick and tired of people being threatened. Over the past five years, residents have had explosions in fields and paint thrown over roads. Normal people going about their everyday business are frightened and intimidated."

Mr Clamp, 50, who has lived in Newborough for 20 years, described himself as an acquaintance of the Hall family. He said: "After the disruption of the grave I took the decision to do something about it. When the desecration happened, I'd never seen so much support from people for the victims of what they saw as an outrageous act. This can't go on any longer.

"We need a large exclusion zone because some residents live in very remote areas. I've had a lot of support from everyone — all who have contacted me have given me 100 per cent support."

Tim Lawson-Cruttendon, the solicitor-advocate who represented Oxford University and Huntingdon Life Sciences, has taken on the Hall family's case.

The main defendant named on the High Court papers is the action group Stop Newchurch Guinea Pigs. But Mr Lawson-Cruttendon said that the application would also be brought against Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac), Speak (which lobbied against a new research laboratory in Oxford) and the Animal Liberation Front, on the ground that they were also allegedly involved in demonstrations in Newchurch.

He said: "Unusually, the claimants include a representative member of the community and that person is seeking a representative order which will protect the entire community.

The exclusion zone we are seeking is about 28.5 square kilometres and broadly covers three parishes. If we obtain this order we will have built on what we gained for Oxford — that is, protection for an entire community against the excesses of animal rights enthusiasm."

Mr Lawson-Cruttendon is bringing the case under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which was originally drafted to shield women from stalkers.

Huntingdon Life Sciences was the first company to use the legislation to obtain an injunction against animal rights protesters. Shac names International Product Supplies on the "Blood on their hands" section of its website, saying that the company "supplies Newchurch Guinea Pig Farm who supply HLS. Contact IPS and voice your disgust at their involvement with HLS."

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Unlocking the cruellest prison
• Prince Charles named in £81m court battle