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  "path": "/news/travellers-tear-fields-cut-trees-council-closed-bank-holiday",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-26T20:54:04.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Homeowner given date to demolish 40ft outbuilding at £800k home amid council planning row",
    "Neighbour row spanning 15 years saw couple harangued by woman next door who spied on them",
    "Aldi leaves woman in tears as she breaks down over large noise of store's refrigeration units",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nCarnage has ensued over the Bank Holiday as travellers spent their weekend tearing up fields and cutting down trees whilst council offices were closed, it has been reported.\n\nSites in West Sussex, Kent, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire were among the locations targeted over the three-day break.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIn West Chiltington, West Sussex, heavy machinery moved onto a field on Friday near the world-renowned Nyetimber sparkling wine estate.\n\nWork continued throughout the weekend despite the presence of both council officers and police at the scene, the Daily Mail reports.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAerial images showed a large portion of the field had been tarmacked over by the end of the weekend, with a number of mobile homes appearing ready to move in.\n\nOne local said: \"The local council and police were here then, but the work carried on.\"\n\nAnother neighbour said vehicles had been arriving at the field continuously since Friday, adding that no planning notices had been erected at the site.\n\nHorsham District Council confirmed it had issued Temporary Stop Notices on Saturday morning following reports that unauthorised works were likely to take place, adding that investigations were continuing and further formal action may follow.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSussex Police confirmed officers attended to prevent a breach of the peace in support of the local authority as the lead agency.\n\nThis is a continuation of a well-established pattern of development timed to coincide with public holidays when enforcement authorities are unavailable.\n\nCouncils across the country were on \"red alert\" for traveller land grabs, having uncovered a Facebook post by a construction firm boss arranging deliveries of materials to development locations in Horley, Surrey and Horsham, West Sussex.\n\nKarl Kavanagh, 48, who runs KK Construction in Hampshire, posted to an online group seeking around 100 loads of crushed aggregate and tipper lorries over the bank holiday weekend, offering £200 a load.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Homeowner given date to demolish 40ft outbuilding at £800k home amid council planning row\n  * Neighbour row spanning 15 years saw couple harangued by woman next door who spied on them\n  * Aldi leaves woman in tears as she breaks down over large noise of store's refrigeration units\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWhen contacted, Mr Kavanagh said he was acting as a subcontractor and did not know the precise purpose of the deliveries.\n\nHe acknowledged he could not rule out the materials being destined for traveller sites, saying some firms would provide them \"when money was involved”.\n\nIn West Malling, Kent, locals reported a burst of activity at an existing traveller site on Friday, with workers seen clearing trees and removing boundary screening.\n\nDespite a traveller at the site denying any plans to expand onto new land and claiming permission had been granted for landscaping, a further mobile home was moved onto the site on Bank Holiday Monday.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nOne resident described it as \"another bank holiday land grab\", adding that it was \"obvious from the road\" a planning breach had occurred.\n\nIn West Malling, the land was purchased for just £105,000 at auction in 2020 before caravans, mobile washrooms, a septic tank and dog kennels were illegally installed over a series of weekends.\n\nAlthough an enforcement notice was issued in 2021, the decision was successfully appealed and permission was eventually granted in December last year.\n\nBy this point the land had been reclassified as Grey Belt and part of the field was estimated to be worth as much as £1.4million.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nLocals described their \"treasured greenbelt land\" as having been \"transformed into a lucrative asset for those who flouted planning laws.\"\n\nIn Grimsby, Lincolnshire, travellers bulldozed barriers and set up camp at Weelsby Woods, with caravans stationed at the site and previously installed barriers designed to prevent unauthorised access having been removed.\n\nIn Netherseal, Derbyshire, a fresh pitch was created on Saturday with static caravans reportedly already in place, located just a mile from another traveller site currently the subject of a separate planning battle.\n\nOne pitch on land near the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, which is subject to a High Court injunction preventing further development or occupation, was being advertised for sale on Facebook with room for 20 families.\n\nThe man behind the advert, who originates from Tuam in Galway, said he had posted it on behalf of a friend and knew nothing about the price, before removing the listing almost immediately after being contacted.\n\nGB News has reached out to Tonbridge and Malling councils for comment.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Bank Holiday carnage as travellers spend weekend 'tearing up fields and cutting down trees' while council offices are closed"
}