Mystery of Castleton triangle

A STRANGE phenomenon residents are nicknaming the "Castleton triangle"
has hit the village.
People parking in a layby outside Castleton's post office, pub, Co-op
and Natwest bank have started experiencing unexplained problems with
their cars.For the last two weeks alarms are going off for no reason,
engines are failing to start, windows won't open and close and doors
will not lock.But drive a short distance up the road and it's
fine.Landlord of the Downe Arms pub Phil Tait said seven cars were
affected outside his pub on Monday evening and he is now parking his
Land Rover around the back."It's the talk of the village. It was
unbelievable last Monday tea time there were five cars and two Land
Rover Discoveries and there were car alarms going off and cars wouldn't
start."Tina Johnson, from High Street, called the Whitby Gazette after
she paid £700 to try to get her Landrover Discovery fixed when it
kept failing to start-up.

She said she knows of two other Land Rover owners and her daughter Lisa
who owns a Peugeot 306 who have being experiencing similar problems with
their cars there.She suggested the problem could be something to do with
their vehicles being spiked with radio frequencies."It's too weird to be
a coincidence. There's talk in the village going around that its
something to do with Fylingdales, the bank, the Co-op or the post
office. "Another Land Rover Discovery owner from Castleton, Sue
Playle-Watson said her car's immobiliser had suffered problems and the
family Mini wouldn't lock or unlock"It's the Castleton Triangle. It
started happening since BT put lines in for broadband about two weeks
ago."The Whitby Gazette has conducted its own investigation into the
phenomenon but it remains a mystery.

Commander of RAF Fylingdales, Wing Commander Nicky Loveday said they
have carried out a full investigation including diagnostic tests on
their radar equipment and she concluded it is highly unlikely it is down
to them.Wg Cdr Loveday said sometimes their radar can affect car
immobilisers within a close proximity to the base when they are
stationary but she was very sceptical about it happening so much further
away. In the past she has known of car manufacturers whose equipment
uses the same frequency as their radar but said although she sympathises
with people it is an issue for the manufacturers."There has been no
record of the radar doing anything odd and there have been no
extraordinary weather conditions."Vicky Readman, manager of the
Castleton Co-op store, said several of her customers have mentioned
problems with cars recently but she didn't know what could be causing
it."No staff vehicles have been affected and we have not experienced any
problems with electronic equipment in the store," she said.

A spokesman for Land Rover said that in the case of Tina Johnson her
car's loss of power and stalling was a direct result of oil
contamination in a wiring loom and electrical control unit (ECU). She
said the loom was replaced and the ECU cleaned but if the symptoms
persisted it may be necessary to change the ECU.She added Land Rover
will now be investigating the situation around Castleton.A spokesman for
OFCOM said it sounded like something to do with a wireless device.He
said: "Quite often car alarms are affected by a wireless doorbell or a
remote control toy so it's difficult to pin point what it can be."OFCOM
has a special team to investigate these kind of queries over the phone
and who can often tell what the problem is by going through a series of
questions with the complainant.

BT said their poles and lines do not emit radio or electricity waves and
their investigations show the strange occurrence has nothing to do with
them while Castleton Post Office and Natwest bank both said all their
systems are working as normal and they were not responsible for the
problems being experienced by residents.Anyone still having problems is
asked to report their concerns to both RAF Fylingdales and OFCOM.