Dubai sheikh is making our lives HELL: Locals in Essex village are furious over ‘boozy shooting parties’ on billionaire’s land that rains dead birds down at their feet and drives them mad with hours of constant gunfire

A row has erupted between locals of a quiet hamlet, the billionaire ruler of Dubai and shooting groups at his Essex estate.

The billionaire, who owns nearly 5,000 acres of farming land in Essex, allows pheasant and pigeon shoots to take place on land near Braintree.

However, locals living in the tiny hamlet of Bardfield Saling say the ‘boozy shoots’ which take place at least twice a week have ‘blighted their lives’ for the last five years. 

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s company Saker Estates and Essex Farms granted permission for the Yorney Valley Shoot to use the vast lands. Drone photos taken by MailOnline show the extent of land which is being used.

The shoot, overseen by manager Keith Nicholls, offers day experiences from £645 to £1,290 with the chance to shoot up to 200 birds between September and January. 

A summary of the experience states: ‘Our shoot is situated in Essex around Great Sailing it is made up of woods and cover crop where we release both French and English partridge and pheasants.

‘The topography of our land means we can show good sporting birds. We cater for 150 to 200 bird days for up to 10 guns.

‘We offer a good days sport with the hospitality to match with over 15 drives to choose from we can arrange each teams day to suit their needs from partridge drives to pheasant drives, with the addition of woodcock we have something for everyone.’

Laura Thompson, 52, who has lived in the quaint hamlet with her husband Adam, 54, for the last six years, told MailOnline: ‘The Sheikh of Dubai who owns the land doesn’t seem to care. Why shoot near our houses when they have thousands of acres to do it in?

‘For five months of the year, the shooting has blighted our lives. It feels like we’re living in misery from the constant loud sounds of gunfire.’

Mrs Thompson, who has lived in the countryside all her life, explained: ‘From the sound of the first gunshot at around 9am, the living hell starts. It’s stressful. 

‘The participants are also drinking alcohol during the day which is concerning.’

Since moving to the area, the volunteer horse welfare officer, who lives less than 50m from where the shoots take place, also says the 4×4 vehicles from the shoots were making the conditions of local roads poor.

She explained: ‘Just this year alone, the shoot has left a trail of devastation, including byways, thick mud tracks on our little lanes. They’re trashed.

‘Their tractor and heavy vehicles crush verges and ditches cause field drainage water to run down the road making them treacherous especially when it freezes, not to mention half dead and dead birds.

‘The council have had to clean the road as it is like a mud bath from October onwards.

Mrs Thompson, who also keeps two horses called Mr Bojangles and Herbie at her property, also said the animals were left distressed and left shaken by gunfire.

She added: ‘Our horses are absolutely terrified.

‘I have had to pay thousands in vet fees due to the close proximity of the shooters.

‘I try and keep the horses in as much as possible on the two days when the shoots take place, but it becomes a welfare issue when they are contained in excess of 24 hours with no exercise.’

The 52-year-old said she has constantly asked for the shoot to be moved further away from her home but is just ignored.

Mrs Thompson concluded: ‘I have kept horses and lived in the county all my life, shootings are a country pursuit and private, well run shoots are a completely different matter, they are held away from residential areas, on private land and tracks, this is not the case here.

‘I have reached out to the Sheikh via various channels and organisations that he owns and received zero response.’

Laura’s husband Adam Thompson, 52, said: ‘We are always on our guard.

‘We have to keep our horses and animals in during these times and can’t even go for a walk ourselves. It’s horrendous from the moment they start shooting.’

Mr Thompson added: ‘We live in the country, so we do expect shooting to go on but not over our house and so close to our animals.

‘I have had to pick up dead birds in our garden. Some are not even dead so I had to put them out of their misery.’

Stephen Woodcraft, 73, who has lived in the hamlet for nearly four decades, said: ‘The landowners and shoot managers are treating locals poorly and have no regarding for us.

‘They have a cavalier attitude and just do what they want. I don’t enjoy the fact they are running this business here.

‘They live in a shear amount of mess on the road. This winter has been horrendous.’

Another local, who has lived in Bardfield Saling for 30 years, said she had to replace windows at her property constantly all the time due to them being smashed by gun cartridges.

The local, who did not want to be named, also used to look after rescue deer but had to give it up because of the distress the shoots were causing the animals.

She said: ‘I rescued injured deer and recouped them and sent them back into the wild. They were always traumatised when the shoots happen and it in turn traumatised us. 

‘When you hear that first gunshot, if you’re not expecting it, it literally goes through you and shocks you. There is no notice at all when they start, you have to find out yourself.

‘I can’t go outside in the garden myself or have children outside when the shooting is going on. 

‘Where they are driving and firing at the birds is towards my property, it should not be happening.’

Another local resident of the hamlet of 40 years said: ‘This is not a sport that everyone can afford, all the customers that come here have big disposable incomes.

‘These people that come are not local and are not interesting in protecting us or our environment.’

They added: ‘I’ve had gun cartridges landing on my head and my vehicles.’

Another said: ‘You can see and hear the participants of the shoot drinking. They’re loud, noisy and at times unpleasant.’

The group of locals said they all attempted to contact Mr Nicholls and Keith Daily who oversees Saker Estates and Essex Farms to complain and resolve the solution.

It is understood the shooting events start at Little Lodge Farm which is part of the Essex Farms estate.

Mr and Mrs Thompson explained: ‘They never seem to want to engage, they are constantly unhelpful when you confront them about anything. Our cries for help fall on deaf ears.’

MailOnline has also learnt of another account of a resident calling 999 after gun cartridges hit their grandchildren whilst they were in a garden paddling pool.

Reviews of the Yourney Valley Shoot by attendees describe the luxury days they are offered by Mr Nicholls and his team.

One said: ‘The day starts with a tea/coffee and egg, sausage bacon roll in their lovely dining room. 

‘We stopped around 11.30 for Champers/Sloe gin, sausage rolls, pork pies, cakes and biscuits. 

‘At the end of the day we all sat down to a wonderful lunch prepared by their chef. Various wines, beers etc were also available.’

Another impressed customer said: ‘I was seriously impressed with the number of partridge I had the opportunity to shoot at on the fourth drive, and was pretty thankful to have a loader!

‘Spent the day with a wonderful team of guns, beaters, picker ups, all very friendly and welcoming.

‘Elevenses was great and there were plenty of drinks and nibbles on offer.’

It comes after locals living near the Sheikh of Dubai’s £75m estate in Surrey expressed anger at the actions of the Sheikh and his security guards after a series of recent building projects.

The historic Longcross estate, near Chobham in Surrey, was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed in the 1990s as a place to escape the stifling summer heat in the Gulf.

Projects include the construction of warehouses to accommodate items used by his  300 staff at the estate as well as accommodation buildings.

Sheikh Mohammed, worth around £4 billion, was also accused of showing ‘cynical disregard’ for planning laws by erecting a 6ft ‘prison-style’ spiked metal fence around his estate. 

Saker Estates said they were not available to comment on the issue. Mr Nicholls was approached for comment.