A police cordon remains in place at Widdecombe’s Rest – the name Ann Widdecombe gave to her Dartmoor home as a symbol of her retirement.

That name has now taken on a new, and tragic, significance.

The residents of the tiny village of Haytor Vale – where neighbours are accustomed to feeling so safe they can leave their doors unlocked – are a community in shock.

Home to fewer than 200 people and nestled on the edge of Dartmoor, this peaceful valley is reeling with the knowledge that police suspect foul play in the death of the former government minister.

Widdecombe was found with serious head injuries on Thursday morning. As police make a new arrest of a man more than 270 miles (430km) away in South Yorkshire, locals in Devon are grappling with grief and horror.

“It shouldn’t have happened, it’s horrific,” said one neighbour. “It’s very, very safe around here.”

Another said: “It’s unbelievable someone could do something like that.”

Meanwhile, the walkers, families and nature lovers who usually populate the village during the summer months have been replaced by police, forensics officers and journalists.

There have been several tributes for the former MP for Maidstone in Kent, from politicians and those who encountered her on the national stage.

Near her Devon home, flowers are now propped against a “Please drive slowly” sign.

Locally, there is horror over the death of a woman who had become “just a person in the community” since moving here 18 years ago.

Widdecombe was “a really nice woman” with a great sense of humour, said neighbour Alison Gilbert.

“She didn’t deserve to die like that,” added Simon Gilbert.

Another neighbour remembered her as “well-liked and accepted”.

Widdecombe was described as a frequent worshipper in the Abbey Church at Buckfast Abbey, where the community said she would be “missed and fondly remembered”.

The monastic community extended “its heartfelt condolences to her family and friends”.

Meanwhile, her former long-time driver Peter Horrall, who had laid flowers near her home, reflected on a “great, very kind” lady.

It had been “a privilege” to drive her, he said.

“I liked her because if you asked her a question, you’d get an answer – no mucking about.”

In the nearby village of Ilsington, a short drive away along the winding Devon roads, Widdecombe was often seen at the local shop.

She had always made time for a “smile and a wave”, said villagers there, with resident Jane Parsons adding the ongoing police investigation had left them “worried”.

Uniformed police officers have been going door-to-door, checking on people as well as asking for information that may help.

As those inquiries continue, villagers can only sit tight, wait for more news and reflect.

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