Cream teas and creepy crawlies? Who sabotaged The Wind In The Willows tea shop? Newly opened Cookham tea shop victim of cruel sabotage Owners had 50 cockroaches posted through the letterbox Yesterday was a picture-perfect Bank Holiday in the Berkshire village of Cookham. Hundreds of day-trippers took advantage of the summer sunshine to wander along grassy meadows next to a meandering River Thames. On the High Street, just a brisk walk from the historic house where local author Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind In The Willows, a steady trickle of customers came seeking refreshment at Diane Bryant and Magda Wencel's newly opened tea shop, the Teapot. As they poured Earl Grey into bone china cups, and carved into magnificent cakes, Diane and Magda's customers could reflect that they were enjoying a quintessentially English moment on what is rightly regarded as one of the country's most beautiful High Streets. Victims: Magda Wencel and Diane Bryant opened the cafe only two weeks ago but had someone post 50 exotic cockroaches through their letterbox on Thursday Unspoiled Cookham is, after all, famed for everything from its 11th-century church to the higgledy-piggledy houses that grace the oil paintings of famous landscape artist Sir Stanley Spencer, a local resident who used to call it his "village in heaven." Yet behind the comforting smell of brewing tea and freshly buttered scones, another, less savoury, aroma could be detected in the airy back room of the Teapot. It was the unsettling whiff of a bizarre and increasingly ugly scandal. Trouble began on Thursday morning, when the owners arrived to discover that no fewer than 50 cockroaches had been posted through their letterbox during the night. The large red insects were crawling around on the floor, making a vigorous hissing sound that one eye-witness has compared to "something out of a low-budget horror movie." Creepy crawlies: Magda and Diane went to open The Teapot on Cookham High Street on Thursday morning to find the floor covered in insects The bugs were later collected by police and taken away for tests which have established that they were Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches, an exotic species which can grow up to three inches long. Health officials closed the tea shop for the day, and baffled detectives are now attempting to establish who might be responsible for attempting to sabotage the Teapot. The incident has stunned well-heeled villagers, and left Diane and Magda, in their words, "worried and thoroughly disgusted." "It was a terrible, revolting thing to do, and people here just can't believe someone could do it," said Magda, 38, when we met. We can't blame anyone, or point the finger. We just don't know who might be responsible. But obviously we want to find out. This wasn't just some kids messing around. It was a planned attack, by someone who wanted to cause harm. The crime has appalled and enthralled the village in equal measure. A string of conspiracy theories are already swirling around Cookham, which sits in London's commuter belt, has a thriving Horticultural Society and, according to the Land Registry, is the second most wealthy village in the country. "It's Midsomer Murders, with cockroaches in place of a corpse," declared one drinker, darkly, at the village's Kings Arms pub, a hostelry occasionally frequented by such celebrated locals as rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward, singer Chris Rea, Rolf Harris and TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson. Saving grace: It was fortunate that the 50 roaches were Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches as they are easier to get rid of Like many residents of this tight-knit community, my informant was reluctant to give his name in connection with the incident. But he was also happy to outline at some length several exotic theories regarding the Madagascan cockroaches, which are prized by pet owners for their habit of hissing noisily when disturbed. He, and several other interviewees, took the view that the bugs were planted by someone loyal to a rival business. They pointed out that the lucrative trade in providing tea and coffee to day-trippers in Cookham has hitherto been dominated by three or four nearby village pubs, along with a single coffee shop, Infusions, which is situated directly next door to the Teapot. But there is no evidence to support such claims. Indeed, when I visited Infusions, the manageress, who also declined to give her name, said she had "no comment" to make about the cockroach incident, but added, pointedly, that she would "never have anything to do" with any such attack. I can't stand cockroaches. They give me the heebie-jeebies," she said. I can't go near them. I saw them at the zoo once, when I visited with my children, and was too scared to even go near their tank. I would certainly never touch them. A second popular theory regarding this unsolved "whodunnit" revolves around the fact that Magda Wencel hails originally from Poland. Could racism be a motive? I found nothing to support this theory, although Cookham certainly has form when it comes to taking issue with exotic incomers. A few years ago, when it was reported that rock-star Liam Gallagher had brought a house just outside the village, locals held a meeting at the Jolly Farmer pub to raise fears about the former Oasis singer and his urbanite friends lowering the tone of the community. Criminal activity: Police are investigating incident but have yet to find the culprit Yesterday, locals were at pains to describe the village as a tolerant place which welcomes outsiders. And Diane Bryant said that she has experienced "nothing but goodwill" since arriving in Cookham. "A lot of people have been coming in saying how awful the incident is, how sorry they are, and staying for a cup of tea," she said. A third theory posits the idea that the attack was the work of a homophobe who might have leapt to the conclusion that Bryant and Wencel are domestic, as well as business, partners. This thesis, aired in online forums over the weekend, was presumably inspired by Cookham's last brush with infamy, in 2010, when a churchgoing local couple, who run a B&B, were prosecuted for refusing to allow two gay men to stay at their residence. Yet it must be discounted because both women are in happy, heterosexual relationships. Diane has a husband and a young daughter, while Magda lives with her fiancé in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. "That theory is very funny, but we're business partners and nothing else," Magda said. Not that it matters in this day and age, of course. The police investigation continues but, as yet, has made little progress. I understand that no fingerprints were found on the Teapot's letterbox, and footage from CCTV cameras at either end of the High Street shows no more than a blurry image of individuals walking past the tea shop after dark, which is when the attack happened. Inquiries at local pet shops - including one in Maidenhead, about four miles away - have drawn a blank, since none is believed to stock Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches. The insects are, however, widely available over the internet, and police are working on the assumption that they were purchased online and shipped to the attacker via mail order. Whoever the cockcroach culprit was, and however well their tracks were covered, he or she also appears to have made at least one big mistake. "The pest control guy who visited the shop after the attack said we'd been very lucky that they had used this type of cockroach, because the insects all stayed in a relatively small area by the door," says Magda. If they had been normal cockroaches it would have been different. Within a short time they would have been all over the shop and we would probably have been closed for days. Did the mysterious attacker make other crucial errors that will eventually see them unmasked? As with any high-profile, unsolved crime, only time will tell. In the meantime, sinister conspiracy theories will continue to flourish in this outwardly idyllic corner of rural England.