Yobs in rampage on Branson estate

Seven youths have been arrested after a gang went on the rampage at Sir Richard Branson's country estate.

The group caused £40,000 damage after running amok at the billionaire's 200-acre Oxfordshire home last month.

Police said the trespassers got onto the property late at night on 10 May. They raced motorbikes around the grounds, crashing into a wooden footbridge leading to the back garden.

The group hotwired heavy machinery - including a roller, diggers and a dumper truck - and trampled over trees and foliage. They dug a 10ft crater in the landscaped grassland and staged a "demolition derby" - smashing the machines into one another.

The equipment had been left at the site because Sir Richard was planning to build a cycle path across the land to make it more accessible to the public.

The Virgin founder was away on business in South Africa at the time. His gardener Ian Pearson, 60, said the vandals destroyed 10 years of hard work.

He said: "It is heartbreaking. Machines can be replaced, but they've trashed a lot of trees."

Seven suspects - a boy aged 14, two aged 15, three aged 16 and a 20-year-old - were arrested last night after an extensive investigation. They were bailed until 5 July. Pc Mike Harris said: "These arrests are a significant development in our investigation."

Sir Richard throws open his Oxfordshire home every year to Virgin staff. Five years ago there were complaints from residents after tens of thousands of employees flocked to the estate for a three-day party over a bank-holiday weekend. The tycoon responded by inviting the whole nearby village of Hampton Poyle to another party in the grounds.