DEATH threats have been levelled at the family responsible for a major aid relief campaign for the refugees in Calais.

One persistent caller said he would go to their house and cut the husband’s throat.

Anna Edwards, husband Darrell and friend Nikka Pomponi established Swindon-Calais Solidarity earlier this summer in an effort to provide some relief to those living under canvas as winter approaches.

However, after the charity embarked on its first visit across the Channel, Anna and Darrell were bombarded by abusive phone calls at their South Marston home.

“The calls started at about 9.30pm on Wednesday and we kept getting them from a man claiming to be an ex-policeman,” said Anna, a teacher.

“He said he was a martial arts expert and he was going to come over to our house and cut my husband’s throat. It was horrendous.

“My daughter was sobbing, she was terrified. Just through my husband’s responses she was getting the gist of what was going on.”

Their six-year-old daughter watched as her parents dealt with the increasingly threatening calls and broke down when she understood the severity of the messages.

Wiltshire Police has been informed and is now investigating the matter because of the nature of the work the couple has been carrying out in recent weeks.

“They said they don’t normally do anything about it, but because of what we do and who we are, they’re going to try and chase this guy because he has claimed to be ex-police,” said Anna.

She said the threatening calls have forced them to turn their home phone off even though this is now damaging their charity push.

Since revealing their distress, Anna said she has been told there are right-wing groups which collate phone numbers for such refugee aid workers and encourage threats to be made.

The Edwards must now weigh up the pros and cons of changing their number and risk losing contact with all of those in their network with that number.

This is not the first time Anna has felt intimidated in light of her opinions on the refugee crisis.

She had a run-in with several teenagers in Swindon’s Queens Park on September 20 after the Peace Picnic there.

Anna said the teenagers hurled verbal abuse her way after reading the pro-refugee message on her T-shirt.

She said she is most concerned about where these threats have come from since her outspoken support for those living under canvas in Calais.

"The first time I felt threatened, including the time I spent deep in the jungle (camps in Calais), it's been from the British public, it really is incredible,” she said.

And she added: “I’m quite naive because it never occurred to me that we would be faced with a real threat.

“This has made me think about the risks coming from the British public.”