Travellers have been found in contempt of court and could face jail for continuing to work on a caravan site close to Sir Winston Churchill’s family home when ordered not to.
Furious locals want to see the group sent to prison for installing drainage pipes and laying trenches – in defiance of an injunction obtained by the local council.
The group sparked outrage by transforming the site in a leafy part of Kent into a caravan park in just 48 hours.
They worked at an ‘extraordinary pace’ in an alleged bid to avoid council action by work on a Friday afternoon on a Bank Holiday weekend last year.
An injunction – called a Dove order – was issued in August, banning further work at the site at Seasons Farm in Pootings, near Westerham.
The group of 10 travellers have now been found in contempt by a judge at the High Court for breaching the injunction.
The site is just a few miles from Chartwell, a country house which was the home of Sir Winston Churchill for more than 40 years.
The wartime Prime Minister and his wife Clementine bought the property in 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965. It is now run by the National Trust.
Pootings is a leafy village where numerous properties are listed for sale for millions of pounds.
Traveller site at Pootings, Kent, where building work took place in breach of injunction
Families live in 12 caravans at the site and locals have claimed: ‘they do whatever they like’
But the local council alleged the travellers breached the order in the following days and weeks and took them back to court.
Now a High Court judge has ruled in the council’s favour and a separate hearing will take place to rule on sanctions.
Twelve caravans have been at the site. A mobile home, valued at around £130,000 was recently parked on the land, along with a brand new £40,000 BMW car.
Locals claim while at the site they have caused ‘havoc’, by throwing eggs at local residents, cutting down trees, letting out horses and being a ‘nuisance’.
One said: ‘It’s been dreadful. They do whatever they like. Locals have had eggs thrown at them. It is intimidating.
‘Their horses have broken out into the road, they have chopped trees down. It’s been havoc.
‘It’s great news they have been found in contempt of court. I’d now like to see them jailed and face serious fines for what they have done.
‘A strong message needs to be sent out to say we should not tolerate this any longer.’
Locals in Pootings, a leafy village, have claimed traveller families ‘do whatever they like’
Chartwell, Winston and Clementine Churchill’s family home, is run by the National Trust
Local residents say travellers have thrown eggs, cut down trees and let horses out loose
In High Court paperwork, the ten travellers involved were named as Patrick Delaney, William Harrington, John Quilligan, Thomas O’Brien, Thomas Coffey, Amanda Coffey, Chantelle Harrington, Sharon O’Brien, Katerina O’Brien and Naomi O’Brien.
A judge found that the men planned the move and bought the land to ‘form a settled base’.
Judge John Halford, sitting as a deputy judge, ruled: ‘I find that drainage and other pipes were added to the cesspool/septic tank area and that trenches were laid from the hardstanding area to the cesspool.’
Although he said the ‘evidence is unclear as to when this happened and who was responsible’, Judge Halford added: ‘It is clear to the criminal standard from the photographs that it occurred after notice of the Dove order.’
Judge John Halford has ruled against the traveller families in the High Court
Entrance to the site at Pootings where building work was a ‘joint project for everyone’s benefit’
He said: ‘I have concluded that the men either undertook these works, or permitted or instructed that they should happen, intentionally and knowingly in either case.
‘As the cesspool/septic tank was a joint project for everyone’s benefit, I consider each of the men were responsible as this was part of the plan they had formed for the site. I find that the men are all are in contempt of court in this respect also.’
He later added in the ruling: ‘Regardless of whether or not they knew and understood the terms of the Dove order before 29 August 2025, each of the women and men and are in contempt of court because they have breached the orders.’
In recent months travellers have moved in to sites on Bank Holiday weekends, apparently exploiting when council offices are likely to be closed.
This has happened at another site at Sundridge, near Sevenoaks, and others in Surrey and Hertfordshire.
A Sevenoaks District Council spokesperson said: ‘Whilst we welcome the judgement of the court, as legal proceedings are continuing, we are unable to provide any further comment on the case.’
Approached at site in Pootings, unidentified members of the traveller families said there was ‘nobody available to comment’.
