Residents have been left furious after travellers barged their way onto and tore up a beauty spot with bulldozers and diggers.
Villagers in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, say they spotted the machinery being driven onto green belt land off Friendless Lane on Thursday before caravans followed suit on Easter Sunday morning.
The group – understood to be travellers – have laid down huge areas of concrete on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which can be seen in startling drone shots.
It’s thought that the travellers launched their land grab over the Bank Holiday weekend in the hope that council officials would be slow to react.
The work has left locals livid, with one unnamed parish councillor revealing that the travellers allegedly damaged cars and wielded iron bars as they forced their way onto the site.
He told The Telegraph: ‘At about 7 o’clock (on Sunday), a whole load of travellers barged their way through.
‘There was a lot of violent abuse and threats, people wielding iron bars, a few cars damaged, they drove into a police car and drove past. They started to bring in lorryloads of crushed concrete.’
Residents estimated that around 300 trips were made by individuals delivering materials onto the site. In one incident, it was claimed that a police car was rammed off the road in the process.
The travellers arrived three days after the diggers despite Dacorum Borough Council issuing a temporary stop notice – a planning enforcement tool used to halt work – on Saturday.
Villagers also did their utmost to stop vehicles from entering the beauty spot. Reports suggest that a tree was felled on Saturday in an attempt to block off a nearby road, though it remains unclear who chopped the greenery down.
One resident told the BBC: ‘The vans and caravans drove at us basically pushing their way through and bumping into people.
‘They were determined to get through us and were really aggressive. It was absolutely horrendous.’
Another described feeling as though his home village had been ‘invaded’ in what has been an ‘absolute nightmare’ situation.
Locals have since begun a ‘lawful’ protest as works reportedly continued on the site at around 9am this morning. It remains unclear who the field is owned by.
Hertfordshire Constabulary, the local police force, said it is in the process of reviewing the ongoings at Friendless Lane over the Easter weekend.
A statement released by Dacorum Borough Council read: ‘We were informed of unauthorised hardcore being laid on the privately owned land on Friendless Lane, Flamstead, Hertfordshire on Friday 3 April.
‘We continued to assess the situation and, due to the scale and speed of the work taking place within the Chilterns National Landscape, served a temporary stop notice on Saturday 4 April requiring works on the site to cease immediately. This is a formal legal step, and any breach of this notice may result in further enforcement action.
‘We continued to investigate and gather evidence with the intention to take further immediate legal action if necessary.
‘Today (Sunday 5 April) Dacorum Borough Council submitted an application to the court for an emergency injunction for the site. This order was successfully granted by the court and the Council served the papers on the site today prohibiting any unauthorised works or use of the site.
‘We now must wait for the court scheduled hearing date before further legal proceedings can take place.’
Hertfordshire Constabulary said: ‘While the civil matter is being led by Dacorum Borough Council we are continuing to monitor the situation and a police presence remains in the area to prevent a breach of the peace and deal with any criminal matters.
‘A number of allegations have been made by several parties involved, including criminal damage, traffic offences and threatening behaviour and these are being investigated as per usual protocol.
‘We are in the process of taking statements and reviewing body worn video and once this is complete, we will look to make arrests wherever necessary.
‘In these circumstances, police have no enforcement powers to prevent access to the land or building work taking place.’
