Police have been maintaining order at a wildlife haven after protesters confronted travellers who ripped it up in a bank holiday land grab.
Hundreds of outraged locals flocked to the field in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, to vent their anger at the work that began on the land on August 29.
Furious residents protested by camping on the land near Rod Stewart‘s sprawling Grade II-listed 18th century mansion, Durrington House, overnight, ensuring no more work took place.
And the protest was victorious on Monday when workers at the encampment left the field after a police and council visit.
East Hertfordshire District Council ordered a stop to the work involving diggers and bulldozers that evening and an injunction has since temporarily blocked any further development.
Officers remain on the site which is surrounded by fencing, contains a static home and four heavy-duty diggers.
Aerial pictures of the site, taken over the bank holiday weekend, show a concrete surface had been laid as well as fences used to create five plots.
Two caravans were parked at the wildlife spot where muntjac deer are said to roam, despite the temporary injunction prohibiting any further work or occupying of the lot.
Pictured: a JCB digger parked inside wooden fencing used to divide the site into plots of land
Police officers remain on the site, pictured, standing near a caravan parked at the wildlife haven
Four heavy-duty diggers and a caravan parked in one of five plots of line created by fencing
Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford, Josh Dean said he was ‘appalled by the flagrant disregard for the rules and the damage that has been done to our environment.
‘The law needs to change to ensure that local authorities have the powers they need to bring this kind of activity to a swift end,’ he said.
Hertfordshire Constabulary previously told the Daily Mail that officers entered the site this morning and ‘all those who had unauthorised access, left the site peacefully’.
A spokesperson for the force said: ‘This was following an amended High Court injunction, which was granted and served this morning.
‘The High Court injunction meant that anyone found carrying out activities prohibited by the injunction – including bringing caravans on site and occupying the land for carrying out development – could be arrested by the police. No arrests were necessary.’
A council spokesperson said: ‘Early on Saturday… we became aware of works taking place on the land off Sheering Mill Lane, Sawbridgeworth, following reports from local residents.
‘Heavy vehicles and construction equipment had entered the site. The land does not have planning permission for development.
‘We served a Temporary Stop Notice shortly after 10.45am on Saturday 29 August. We also made an urgent application to the High Court for an injunction.
Police officers turned up at the site in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, to ensure diggers left the area and any unauthorised works came to a stop
A concrete base has already been laid on the site alongside fencing over the bank holiday weekend
Police officers speak to one of the travellers working on the site in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire
‘Our priority is to prevent the site from being occupied and to bring the unauthorised development to an end as quickly as possible.
‘We will continue to work with our partners and use the legal and enforcement options available to us to achieve this. A hearing has been scheduled for 15 September.
‘However, as works are continuing on the site, the council and its partners are doing everything possible to secure an earlier court date.’
Sawbridgeworth is the latest area to be targeted after huge lorries arrived on Friday morning with fences going up and roads being blocked.
In videos posted on social media, birds were heard chirping as work involving heavy machinery was carried out on greenbelt land.
It devastated residents who feared travellers had taken over and destroyed the precious wetland habitat and floodplain.
One neighbour, in her 50s who wished to be anonymous, has lived in the area all her life and told the Daily Mail she felt ‘powerless’ and ‘devastated’.
She said: ‘I believe they are travellers building a traveller site. Some people don’t want them anywhere, and I think they should go through all the steps that everyone else has to when it comes to planning and building.
An aerial picture of the wildlife haven before any work had been carried out over the weekend
A tattooed man holding a can of Stella Artois speaks to officers at the site where work had been carried out without planning permission
The council issued a Temporary Stop Notice which requires further work on the site to be halted, but the order was ignored
‘They definitely don’t have permission – the order was ignored and they’ve continued to bring in diggers and all sorts of machines.’
The resident added that she and her neighbours are mostly saddened by the destroyed habitats of the protected wildlife, including bats, newts and nesting birds.
She said: ‘The reserve has been around for as long as life and within a day it was destroyed. It’s a total destruction of nature, it’s absolutely disgusting.
‘There’s a lady who lives right across the road from it and she’s in tears. We’re completely appalled by the destruction; it’s devastating to be so powerless in the situation.
‘It’s the bank holiday and no one has the chance to stop it before it’s too late, so they’ve got four days to destroy habitats’.
It follows a trend that has seen travellers purchase land, often in leafy parts of the Home Counties, and then set up unauthorised sites.
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