Villagers fork out thousands to buy plots in bid to block illegal traveller land grab

A group of villagers have forked out thousands of pounds to buy up plots in a bid to block an illegal traveller land grab.

Banding together to fight against an illegal encampment, the community has raised more than £100,000 to buy up a field which could be at risk of being bulldozed for dozens of travellers' caravans.

One resident said it felt like "extortion", but added: "I was worried the value of our property might be affected if there was a Traveller site a few hundred yards up the road.

"It was just us buying the land in order for the village to stay the same and not be developed in a way we didn't want it to be," they told Sky News.

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They also claimed they were driven by the need to protect the safety and atmosphere of their village as they were "worried the travellers might bring problems".

The source said that "it was literally the last thing we wanted to do".

Admitting it was presumptuous on the villagers' behalf, the resident argued that they lacked confidence in the local authorities to protect their homes.

The village source said that the travellers had built up a "reputation", and admitted the community was approaching the potential issue as a "worst-case scenario".

"But that was a worst-case scenario most people in the village didn't want to entertain, so we took the matter into our own hands," they added.

The land was purchased from a lawyer after he issued a planning application in which a traveller camp could not be ruled out.

But the founder of the Gypsy Traveller League John Reilly complained to Sky News that villagers buying land amounted to discrimination.

He said that the villagers protecting their community was "disgusting" and compared it to not wanting gay people to live there.

"You would not do that and turn around and say 'I don't want gay people to live here so all of us come together and buy the house'," he said.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Travellers concrete over ENTIRE field in illegal land grab as 'locals outnumbered' by caravans
• Martin Clunes faces fresh planning row after four-year traveller site battle
• Much-loved park turned into 'no-go zone' after 'intimidating' traveller mob smashes their way in and sets up camp

Up and down the UK, traveller groups are bulldozing and ripping up much-loved green belt land, lowering property prices and wreaking havoc on the British wildlife.

Earlier this week, an unauthorised traveller encampment was constructed on a field in a quiet Bedfordshire village with locals left "outnumbered".

The development appeared opposite an existing legal traveller site in Tilsworth, with construction beginning on June 12, just as Central Bedfordshire Council staff were clocking off for the weekend.

Often, travellers exploit Bank Holiday weekends as ideal opportunities to begin an illegal construction, with the council logging off for three or four days.

Back in May, sites across West Sussex, Kent, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire were among the locations targeted over the three-day break.

And, over the Easter break in April, Hertfordshire locals, just off the cusp of the Chiltern Hills, claimed they have been subjected to "violent abuse and threats" hurled at them by a "whole load of travellers".

Over the course of the Bank Holiday, a slew of bulldozers and caravans appeared off a Friendless Lane near the village of Flamstead, feeding both fear and fury amongst the locals.

They believe the group of travellers took advantage of the long weekend over Easter in the hope Dacorum Borough Council would be slower to respond to the land grab.

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