Police called in over "media harassment" on Sark More than 50 residents of a tiny island paradise have contacted police claiming they have suffered harassment from local journalists. The newspaper concerned is edited by a man with links to the wealthy media owners the Barclay brothers. Police on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, have investigated allegations made by people who live on neighbouring Sark and the case file is currently under review, the Guardian has learned. A newspaper called the Sark Newsletter has made frequent and scathing attacks on the government, individual members and islanders it believes are sympathetic to the administration. It is owned, edited and published by Kevin Delaney, chief executive officer of Sark Estate Management, which runs businesses owned by the Barclay family on the island. Lawyers for Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, owners of the Telegraph newspapers and Ritz hotel, who have a home on the islet of Brecqhou just off Sark, said on Thursday that the brothers had "no input or influence" over the newspaper's content. The Sark Newsletter - recently rebranded as the Sark Newspaper - has compared the government, known as the chief pleas, to the German administration of the 30s, claiming the island is controlled by a "totalitarian one ruling party regime" that is wrecking Sark's economy. Sark is a popular holiday island where cars are banned. It featured on the BBC's An Island Parish series. However, it is portrayed in the paper as a haven for criminals. It had alleged that one islander tried to obtain Delaney's fingerprints so they could be planted at a crime scene. A frequent target of the paper is Michael Beaumont, who as seigneur was effectively lord of the island before Sark held its first democratic elections in 2008 after more than 400 years of feudalism. The newspaper continues to characterise him as Sark's "unelected feudal lord." Beaumont revealed he had complained to the police, but declined to comment further. Guernsey police confirmed it had investigated complaints from residents relating to alleged criminal harassment by the newspaper. It said its officers and the law officers on the island - the equivalent of the UK Crown Prosecution Service - were reviewing the files. A spokesman said: "I can confirm we have received complaints from some Sark residents about the Sark newspaper. These are being reviewed. The islanders concerned are being represented by a Dublin law firm, Eames Solicitors. They have also been advised by a leading human rights barrister in London. In a statement, Eames said: "We can confirm that a large number of written complaints relating to the Sark Newsletter and made by residents of Sark have been formally lodged with the Guernsey police and the law officers. The matter is now in the hands of the Guernsey police and the law officers. One resident who is a constant target of the paper and has complained to police, Rosie http://sarkpaintings.com Guille, said the allegations had a "huge impact on morale" on the island. She said: "It's blighted my life and the lives of my family." She has been described in the paper as a "one ruling party fundamentalist." Explaining why she would not be driven away, Byrne, an artist and member of the government, said: "My family have lived here for 450 years. It's my home. Another Sark resident, who has made complaints to the police but has asked not to be named, said: "The situation has become unbearable. We are subjected to a weekly onslaught of abuse and vitriol by the Sark Newsletter. We had no alternative but to make a complaint to the Guernsey police. The allegations are not the only controversy swirling around Sark. Last week Delaney said hotels and other businesses on Sark owned by Sark Island Hotels, a subsidiary of Sark Estate Management, would not open next year or "for any foreseeable period after that" - a blow for the island's tourist industry. In its latest edition, the paper blames the government for the closures. It claims a "catastrophic collapse" in the island's economy has been caused by the refusal of the government to set up a customs post, which it argues would encourage more tourism from France. The government emphasised on Thursday that the island remained very much open - but declined to reply to the paper's claims. Delaney replied to the Guardian's queries through a lawyer, Gordon Dawes, who wrote that Delaney believed the "vast majority" of complainants were "supporters of the single ruling party in Sark posing as ordinary members of the public." The lawyer's letter claimed their actions were part of a "concerted attempt" to close down Sark's only newspaper and "only effective political opposition." It added: "Previous efforts have included a march organised by single ruling party members on Mr Delaney's workplace in order to bully him into closing down his publication. Mr Delaney has, additionally, been subjected to attacks on his property, the setting of explosive fireworks outside his home and office, abuse by mail and online graffiti and even the creation of a mock grave. Dawes wrote: "Mr Delaney is the sole proprietor and editor of the Sark Newspaper. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay have no input in its content. He sees his role as editor of the Sark Newspaper as being in the best traditions of pamphleteers of the 18th and 19th centuries. He has lived on Sark for seven and a half years and, from a purely personal perspective, now sees his primary role as proprietor and editor of the Sark Newspaper exposing the government of Sark weekly, holding up a mirror to the actions of those who seek to control Sark, in the interests of transparency, openness, accountability and, most of all, in the public interest. He seeks to expose the feudal system and the fact that Sark is not a democracy. The letter continued: "Mr Delaney points out that this is not mere parish politics. Sark is what amounts to a micro state with the power to make primary legislation in all areas of Sark life. It has the same legislative powers over domestic matters as the Westminster parliament. This is why these matters are so important to anyone living on Sark. A letter from London law firm Carter-Ruck on behalf of the Barclay brothers said: "The Sark Newspaper is owned, edited and published by Kevin Delaney. Neither Sir David or Sir Frederick Barclay has any input or influence over its content. Mr Delaney is employed as chief executive officer of Sark Estate Management.