MOVING with military precision, under cover of darkness, a convoy of caravans roll stealthily on to a swathe of glorious green countryside.
Hordes of travellers swiftly pave over acres of Green Belt land with Tarmac, gravel and ugly hard-standing aggregate.
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At dawn, horrified residents awake to find their once idyllic views blighted, their peace and quiet shattered and their homes rendered nearly worthless.
But this traveller land grab, timed for after local government offices closed for the recent bank holiday at the end of August, was repeated in dozens of similar, simultaneous invasions across the country.
The Sun this week visited sites across the South East, where there has been widespread disruption over the past few weeks.
At each location, travellers appeared to be syphoning off water and hacking into electricity, both from the mains, while also running noisy generators around the clock.
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Many also seemed to be subletting caravans to migrant workers for cash.
Despite furious protests, police and planning officials say they are powerless to act if travellers are moving on to privately owned land.
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Their usual approach is to either buy plots legally or forcefully set up unauthorised camps, before moving in industrial plant hire to flatten and pave the land within just a matter of hours.
They then apply for retrospective planning permission – setting in motion a lengthy process that will allow them to stay where they are for months or even years.
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We also found the machinery and materials at many of the sites was from the same construction tycoon – Hampshire based Karl Kavanagh.
Sherrie Smith, of campaign group Gypsies and Travellers Essex, claimed: “Councils give travellers no option but to buy a piece of land and illegally build on it then go retrospectively for planning permission because of prejudice against them by the community.”
In January, the number of traveller caravans parked without planning permission across England was 4,950, up 73 per cent on January 2020’s figure of 2,860.
As more and more sites pop up, at an alarming rate, local communities feel overwhelmed.
Here we look at just some of those battlegrounds . . .
1. WEST CHILTINGTON, WEST SUSSEX
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TRAVELLERS arrived at 5am and worked through to 11pm to pave over a four-acre Green Belt site, to the horror of residents in this charming village.
Locals say the Police have done nothing, saying the camp, above, is on private land.
The council issued a stop notice but to no avail.
Charity worker Samantha Barrington, 62, who dared to confront her unwelcome new neighbours, said: “They are intimidating and threatening.
“They warned me, ‘Go home while you still have one – there will be repercussions.’ We don’t know who we’re dealing with.
“I’m pretty robust but they don’t like women standing up to them, and I’ve been accused of racism.
“They are mostly men, and the vehicles are Irish but most have their number plates obscured so can’t be identified. It makes me feel very vulnerable.”
Her neighbour, Ben Osborne, spent two years and £1.2million renovating his dream home but now lives in fear and wants to sell up and move.
Estate agents warn, however, that the eyesore now blighting West Chiltington will make it nigh on impossible to sell homes in the village.
Ben told us: “I’m absolutely terrified and need to protect my family. It’s keeping me up at night.
“I’ve heard about people having their doors kicked in and houses burnt down, and I’m not prepared to take the risk. I spent months negotiating planning regulations and yet these people simply flout them all, which makes me furious.
“Now, I’ve been told I’ve got no chance of selling unless l essentially give the place away.”
2. ALDERMASTON, BERKS
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TRAVELLERS set up camp last year near the village’s nuclear warhead facility – and residents are still battling to get them removed.
Local uproar and concern at the Atomic Weapons Establishment over the potential impact on its operation, saw West Berks Council get a High Court injunction to clear the camp.
But many travellers remain.
3. NETHERSEAL, DERBYS
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VILLAGERS are on the warpath over a site that was granted planning for just a handful of caravans and now has 29 vehicles.
Locals say South Derbyshire District Council should never have approved the site as the local area already has an unfair concentration of travellers.
4. ELM, CAMBS
DESPITE objections, consent was given last year for eight traveller pitches at a site near to this village.
Residents continuing to protest say that, since that ruling by Fenland District Council, the encampment has grown with each bank holiday weekend.
5. WILLOWS GREEN, ESSEX
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DESPITE local MP James Cleverly promising action after travellers bulldozed a local beauty spot over the May Bank Holiday, and protests outside Uttlesford District Council offices last week, residents are furious.
Meanwhile travellers are already planning to expand into another field, after buying it.
James and Suzanne Holden have ramped up security at their house which backs on to the existing encampment.
James, 77, a retired carpenter, said: “When we moved in, this was a lovely grazed field. Suddenly it was taken over and surrounded by high fencing. There are over 26 cars and most aren’t taxed or insured.
“I’ve seen them [from the camp] eyeing up our property and it makes me uneasy. Generators are going all night, it’s so noisy we can’t have the windows open. They’ve broken into the mains water supply for a shower unit and the police do nothing about it.
Suzanne, 74, said: “It used to be so peaceful but now we’re being followed and intimidated. They’ve bought another field nearby, the size of four football pitches, so it will only get worse.”
Tracy Williams and Phoebe Nowakravsky refused to pay council tax for three months in protest, while the local authority has done nothing to tackle the travellers.
Both women were threatened with court summons by Uttlesford Council, before reluctantly paying up.
Phoebe said: “I’m furious how quickly the council chased me for non-compliance, but have done nothing to stop the travellers.”
6. HOVEFIELDS, ESSEX
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THREE camps at Hovefields, Cranfield Park and nearby Newlands Road are expanding so rapidly that residents fear they will soon merge into a sprawling supersite.
Between April 2023 and February 2026, Basildon Borough Council granted consent for 31 new pitches but their number has since more than doubled in size.
Fireworks have destroyed locals’ peace and quiet, and there have been reports of broken windows.
A further, three-acre site is feared to be coming soon after the land was bought by a traveller. In desperation, pensioner Jill Walsh sold her bungalow, and adjoining land, to developers.
She said: “I chose to sell because the harassment [from travellers] was affecting the health of me and my husband.” The land she sold had planning consent for four caravans – but there are now more than 20 there.
Jill added: “My next-door neighbour also sold up, with planning for three additional ones, but there are now more than 40 caravans on that site.”
The flashpoint is also near to Dale Farm – one of the UK’s largest traveller sites before Basildon Borough Council enforced a mass eviction, after a ten-year legal battle costing £4.8million.
It had originally allowed for a small number of travellers but the number later soared, illegally, to more than 1,000.
It is claimed travellers are now cashing in on the smaller, legal part of the site.
Local builder Len Gridley, 67, said: “Travellers no longer live there but they rent it out to migrants.”
7. SANDWAY, KENT
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THIS corner of stockbroker belt country now has an unwelcome reputation as a hotspot for unauthorised traveller developments.
In rolling fields around the village of Sandway, five illegal traveller sites have sprung up this year – three, below – hammering local house prices. In most cases, travellers built on the land first then submitted retrospective planning applications.
At Longfield, Medway, Hoath, Sundridge and Headcorn, lorries appeared while council offices were closed over bank holiday weekends – last Easter, in May and at the end of August.
There is another site, near the village of Pootings, where the council granted permission for 60 caravans but their number soon hit 87.
Although an injunction was issued banning more development, drainage pipes were added.
According to the latest census, Kent is now in the top five local authorities for the proportion of residents from traveller backgrounds.
One Sandway resident, who owns two properties there but was too afraid to give her name, said: “This was a quiet and beautiful place with only an arts centre and a pub, but now it’s been invaded by travellers who have trashed it by bringing in skiploads of rubbish, dumping it in hedgerows and even gardens.”
She added that travellers also buried or burned rubbish, contaminating land and that council legal battles to stop traveller bids for retrospective planning permission were costing taxpayers a fortune.
8. SAWBRIGEWORTH, HERTS
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A WILDLIFE haven at this genteel market town was bulldozed over the August bank holiday.
The travellers ignored a stop notice from East Herts District Council, then an emergency High Court injunction, before the council went back to the High Court to secure police powers to visit, and clear the site.
Within hours, it had been done and protesters enjoyed victory.
9. FLAMSTEAD, HERTS
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TRAVELLERS who set up an unauthorised camp in this village at the end of last month were sent packing following a protest by furious residents.
They were moved on as a High Court injunction obtained by Dacorum District Council ordered them to return the fields to grazing land.
This included the removal of drainage pipes, septic tanks and 6,000 tons of hardcore.
10. WEELSBY WOODS, LINCS
TRAVELLERS descended on this public park in Grimsby in 14 caravans over the May bank holiday.
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They were moved on four days later after a concerted effort by North East Lincolnshire Council and local police.
But they left a trail of rubbish as well as human waste.