IT has been clear for some time that some kind of feud has been brewing in the Darlington and South Durham areas.

Now, following the sickening desecration of a cemetery in Metal Bridge, near Ferryhill, we have official confirmation from Durham Police: “We believe that the damage to the graves is part of an ongoing feud between members of travelling families,” said Detective Superintendent Adrian Green.

This is a statement which would not be made lightly because tensions in the local travelling community are something which the police and council officials try hard to keep from boiling over.

But the “depraved act” which saw the skulls of brothers Levi and Gareth Price being taken from their graves has led to the police going public with the nature of the feud.

It follows a stolen horsebox being driven into a house in Beaumont Hill, Darlington, on November 12, and a stolen wagon being rammed off Yarm Road, in Darlington, last week. In October, a gang of men wielding baseball bats threw petrol bombs into a semi-detached house, also off Darlington’s Yarm Road.

These have clearly been targeted attacks but it is easy to understand why local people are fearful of being caught up in what might happen next because the cemetery attack represents a sinister escalation of the dispute.

Whatever the feud is about, it has already gone too far and has to be stopped before someone gets seriously hurt.

We welcome police promises of regular police patrols in key areas and we urge local people to do whatever they can to help police find out who is behind this disturbing sequence of events.

If you know anything at all – no matter how trivial you may think it is – call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800555111.