Traveller groups carry out unauthorised works at sites in four English counties over bank holiday
Reports describe heavy machinery and caravans appearing at fields in West Sussex, Kent, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire while council offices were closed. Local authorities issued stop notices and police attended some locations.
news.sky.comReports from multiple locations indicate that groups carried out earthworks, tree clearance and installation of mobile homes at several sites during the three-day bank holiday weekend. The activity occurred in West Sussex, Kent, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. In West Chiltington, West Sussex, heavy machinery entered a field near the Nyetimber sparkling wine estate on Friday.
Aerial images later showed a portion of the field covered in tarmac and several mobile homes positioned on site. Horsham District Council stated it issued Temporary Stop Notices on Saturday morning after receiving reports of unauthorised works. Sussex Police confirmed officers attended the West Chiltington site to support the council and prevent a breach of the peace.
Neighbours told the Daily Mail that work continued through the weekend despite the presence of council officers and police. In West Malling, Kent, workers cleared trees and removed boundary screening at an existing traveller site on Friday. A further mobile home was moved onto the site on Bank Holiday Monday.
The land had been purchased at auction in 2020 for £105,000 and later received planning permission after an enforcement notice was appealed. In Grimsby, Lincolnshire, barriers at Weelsby Woods were bulldozed and caravans were stationed at the location. In Netherseal, Derbyshire, a new pitch with static caravans was created on Saturday.
A Facebook post by Karl Kavanagh, who runs KK Construction in Hampshire, sought approximately 100 loads of crushed aggregate and tipper lorries for deliveries to sites in Horley, Surrey and Horsham, West Sussex over the bank holiday weekend. When contacted, Kavanagh said he was acting as a subcontractor and could not rule out the materials being used at traveller sites.
GB News reported that one pitch near the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, subject to a High Court injunction, was advertised for sale on Facebook before the listing was removed.
