But in the summer of 1870, those scenes were happening in Fakenham as it was gripped by unrest after a controversial government policy sparked outrage.

A new book, titled The fight for Fakenham Commons, has revealed how angry locals once took to the streets after losing access to land they had relied on for generations.

Arsonists torched the heath, police patrolled with cutlasses, and the leaders of the uprising were jailed in Norwich Castle.

The unrest followed the implementation of the enclosure acts - a series of laws passed between the 18th and 19th centuries which allowed common land to be fenced off and turned into private property.

© Eastern Daily Press