Announcements

TRAVELLERS living on Dale Farm have been warned they will be evicted in two weeks.

Basildon Council will begin the clearance of the site in Crays Hill near Billericay on September 19 after a decade-long row over unauthorised properties on the former scrapyard.

Although half of the site is legal, more than 80 properties have no planning permission and about 400 people are said to be living there illegally.

Travellers and their supporters have promised to resist eviction without violence but police have begun preparations for major disorder.

In a statement, Basildon Council confirmed that travellers had been issued a letter informing them of the eviction date.

Council leader Tony Ball said: "We have always made it clear that this was a last resort for us, and it is with reluctance that we have been forced to take direct action to clear the site.

"We have sought a negotiated settlement and exhausted the legal system for almost ten years. In that time the travellers have refused to budge."

A spokeswoman representing the travellers and their supporters said that the September 19 date meant a longer time-frame than had been expected.

She added: "For the older residents and those with young children it will give them time to make preparations, but it is not a solution - they still have nowhere to go."