Villagers under siege from a traveller ‘invasion’ say they are now ‘outnumbered’ and being ‘driven out’ after a surge of land-grabs saw several ‘illegal’ camps set up.
Residents living in the tranquil Surrey hamlet of Horne say their rural oasis has been transformed into a ‘battleground’ after unauthorised sites were set up by groups.
At least six have been created by ‘land-grabbing’ travellers in recent months, who have pitched up in fields and developed upon them without planning permission, locals say.
Three sites are based within 300ft of each other, in the country road of Bones Lane, while several others have been set up in nearby New Chapel and Alfold. Meanwhile, within less than two miles of the hamlet, there are at least 14 camps.
Furious villagers are now considering launching a retaliatory operation to barricade roads with tractors to stop more travellers from arriving, while others are contemplating selling their homes.
It comes as a council leader chillingly warned the construction of the unauthorised sites was on the cusp of leading to ‘serious unrest’ descending upon the hamlet.
‘We are literally being pushed out of our homes… we are now estimating that in one road with three of these sites, the travellers outnumber the locals now,’ one local told the Daily Mail.
‘Residents have even spoken about barricading the road with tractors… That’s how upset people are. They are prepared to literally barricade the travellers in.
A small hamlet has launched a fight against a series of ‘illegal’ traveller sites, built on field land without planning permission (pictured)
Travellers have allegedly ripped up the land, which used to be a field in part of Surrey’s green belt (pictured are some of the caravans and mobile homes in Bones Lane this week)
The quaint village of New Chapel (pictured) has become home to numerous traveller sites in recent weeks
‘It’s bubbling up to a point that there is going to be an ugly incident…There will be a fatality or serious issue… this will get really nasty, really soon.’
The newest site was set up a couple of weeks ago when a group of travellers bulldozed their way into a recently purchased field and started transforming it.
When the Daily Mail visited the location, travellers appeared to be setting up an expansive caravan park, tearing up ground and laying tarmac hard-standing with more than a dozen pitches being set up.
The onslaught was the latest in a long string of similar instances that have blighted the Surrey idyll – located near Gatwick Airport, where homes cost an average of almost £1million – for years.
It’s sparked a rebellion from residents, who have set up their own group to monitor the travellers in a bid to have them turfed off their illegally-built site.
About 50 locals are now part of the Horne Residents’ Association, which earlier this month successfully applied for an injunction on the latest travellers after paying for legal advice out of their own pockets.
On Wednesday, members of the organisation went to London’s High Court in their effort to stop the latest ‘illegal’ arrivals from expanding their caravan empires. However, this hearing was adjourned until November.
A spokeswoman for the group told the Daily Mail last night: ‘This is not the end. It is the beginning of a very long battle, unfortunately.’
More than a dozen plots have been constructed at the sites off of Bones Lane in Surrey
A number of building materials were seen outside the unauthorised site, suggesting further work could soon be taking place
She added: ‘The issue is not us having a fight with someone in a field down the road. We’re not angry with them. The issue we’re fighting against is the systemic abuse of the planning system which is a nightmare for communities like ours, which has been left without a voice.’
Earlier this month, a council leader warned the continued construction of unauthorised traveller camps could spark ‘serious unrest’.
Catherine Sayer, boss of Tandridge District Council, said the issue was causing ‘unhappiness and friction in the community’, as traveller communities were buying greenbelt land and building on it without permission.
She said she had spent six out of the last seven weekends dealing with issues about traveller sites.
But locals have accused Tandridge of ‘ignoring’ their concerns over the traveller camps for years.
‘We just don’t have a voice here,’ one resident, who asked not to be named, told the Daily Mail. ‘The council just doesn’t care. They do nothing.
‘We’re now outnumbered in our own parish by travellers and a line needs to be drawn in the sand. They’re making a mockery of it all.
‘These travellers find parishes like ours that are weak and ineffective and take them over. It’s a nationwide problem.
‘Everyone is distracted by immigration, the economy and Putin and Russia. But no one is listening.
‘These travellers are salting the earth and destroying years of ecology. It’s terrifying about what’s going on.’
Three temporary stop notices were served on the latest developments in Little Field Farm, Bones Lane, Acre Farm, in Hare Lane, Blindley Heath and another site on land southwest of Highfield Cottage in Bones Lane.
Other traveller camps built nearby include the one in Plough Road, Smallfield, and the vast site dubbed The Plantation, in New Chapel, about a mile away from Bones Lane. This plot is believed to have almost 170 caravans and hundred of people living there.
All in all, there are around 14 traveller camps of varying sizes located within less than two miles of Horne.
Meanwhile, the last census of Horne, in 2021, showed the parish had about 940 people living in it.
The former field has now been transformed into a series of sprawling traveller sites, with other developments nearby, leaving local villagers worried
Fencing and hard-standing have all been installed without planning permission on the field
Earlier this year, the Daily Mail revealed how travellers across the UK were carrying out alleged land-grab blitzes in villages across Britain.
In a tactic that appears to be almost identical, groups target plots of recently-bought land on a Friday or bank holiday, rapidly destroying it before turning into a caravan site, in a matter of days, before council authorities can react.
The groups then apply for retrospective planning application for their unauthorised sites to be allowed to remain.
In nearly all occasions, the groups fail to follow rules around building new sites, in a tactic critics say make a ‘mockery’ of Britain’s stringent planning laws.
Cash-strapped councils have admitted they often don’t have the funds to challenge the land-grabs, meaning traveller sites are able to remain.
Ms Sayer said enforcement of planning laws was a drain on local authority finances and took a long time as travellers owned the land.
She added the council had met the needs of the traveller community.
However, tensions are increasingly on the rise between travellers and locals.
In Alford, furious residents reportedly stood in front of construction lorries to try and block them after part of the area’s greenbelt was bulldozed for a new caravan park.
The simmering tensions came to a head over the weekend when a group of elderly women were allegedly approached by men in ‘balaclavas’ at the nearby Borne Lane camp.
‘The little old ladies are saying they’re too scared to walk down the road… they are terrified and don’t want to leave their homes,’ one neighbour – who is now looking to sell their home – has said.
Lingfield village in East Surrey (pictured) has also seen a new travellers site erected near Eastbourne Road
The tranquil village (pictured) is one of several that have been transformed into a ‘battleground’ after unauthorised sites were set up by groups
However, Friends, Family and Travellers – which represents travellers – claimed not enough was being done by council to find permanent sites for the UK’s nomadic community, with too many families ‘stuck in limbo’.
‘Without somewhere safe to stop, families are denied access to vital services like sanitation, healthcare and education,’ a spokesman told the BBC.
‘Increasing access to safe stopping places, like sites, can give Gypsy and Traveller families the stability and dignity that every community deserves.’
The Daily Mail has approached the charity for further comment.
Tandridge council says it is continuing to do what it can to tackle the travellers.
A spokeswoman told the Daily Mail: ‘In the last three months we have served five temporary stop notices and two interim injunctions on sites in this particular area.
‘We have also has refused one planning application for retrospective permission for a gypsy and traveller site and declined to determine three applications for gypsy and traveller development.’
