A family feud where vehicles have been used as weapons has been brought to an end after police intervention.

Following the dispute, two men in Borehamwood have been found guilty of a number of crimes, and four men have been given Community Protection Warnings (CPW).

Frankie Coles, 21, Manor Way, has been jailed for nine months for possession of an offensive weapon, two counts of assault, criminal damage to a car and dangerous driving.

Nicki Coles, 44, Ripon Wat, has been jailed for six months for two assaults and possession of an offensive weapon.

The two men were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on Friday, July 14.

The four men issued with CPWs have not been named, but they are prohibited from contacting five family members or visiting their address.

If they breach this warning, they will receive a Community Protection Notice, which if broken is a criminal offence meaning they may also end up in court or receive a fine.

The police were initially called to deal with an incident of affray at Manor Way in May 2016.

After that the police dealt with allegations of assault, threats to kill, threats of arson, harassment, alarm, and distress 24 times before a multi-agency approach was taken in October 2016.

Each family member on both sides was given a Community Protection Notice Warning following visits from the police anti-social behaviour officer and Affinity Sutton anti-social behaviour manager.

They were warned that continuing in this dispute may put their tenancies at risk, but the problems started a few months later and neither party would accept an offer to move further away.

The bitter dispute resulted in several more court cases, which ended up with disorder in court and further threats.

The police, council, Affinity Sutton and a family keyworker from Families First, held another meeting to discuss re-homing possibilities and a way forward.

Hertsmere Community Safety Unit’s Assistant Investigator Claire Morris said: “This has been a very complex, ongoing dispute between family members for over 14 months.

“It reached a point where they were using their vehicles as weapons on public roads, which could easily have involved an innocent member of the public.

“We have put a significant amount of work into dealing with this dispute involving the expertise of different agencies, including Hertsmere Borough Council and Affinity Sutton Housing Association, to protect residents in Borehamwood, as well as the family members directly involved.”

Claire said: “To help prevent further anticipated disorder and keep the wider community safe, police used additional resources from across the Force. We also carried out extra reassurance patrols at the key places on the dates we had identified. A few days before the final court case for the original affray, all members of the family were given disruption notices, to make them aware that we were prepared for any problems, but the court case went ahead with no issues.”

She said: “We have literally done everything we could to put a stop to this ongoing anti-social behaviour. We will continue to support family members, who may be feeling vulnerable.”

She added: “If you are experiencing anti-social behaviour, please get in touch with your local PCSO so we can try and find solutions to the problem. Don’t suffer in silence as the issues could escalate, like they have in this case.”