Council Fears Return Of Travellers

Travellers are threatening to return to an "infamous" illegal settlement in Essex once workers have finished clearing the site, a High Court judge has been told.

Lawyers representing a local authority overseeing a clearance operation want a court order preventing travellers from re-occupying green-belt land at Dale Farm near Basildon.

Reuben Taylor, for Basildon Council, told a judge sitting in London travellers had told contractors clearing the site that they aimed to return and the council wanted a court injunction to prevent that happening.

Mr Justice Langstaff told Mr Taylor: "I am sympathetic in general terms to the application you are making but it needs to be properly founded on evidence."

He suggested that the council should return to court on Monday (7th) with "details of who said what to whom".

The judge said he would adjourn the hearing without making any "determination" until Monday.