Updated
Travellers won a last-minute reprieve in their fight against eviction from an illegal site in southern England overnight after a judge barred officials from clearing the land before a court hearing at the end of the week.
London's High Court issued an injunction stopping the local authority from clearing the Dale Farm site near Basildon, Essex, 48 kilometres east of the capital London.
The travellers and their supporters had barricaded themselves behind brick walls and chained themselves to fences, while bailiffs gathered nearby to evict them.
A tense stand-off lasted for most of the day as those inside the site waited for the eviction to start at the end of a decade-long battle.
One woman was chained by her neck to the main gate, while others lay down under cars or clambered up hastily erected scaffolding and wooden platforms as they waited for the bailiffs to arrive.
"We are all in a state of shock. We don't know the details yet as there is no internet on site, but we've heard there is an injunction," said spokeswoman Kirsty Jones from the group, Dale Solidarity.
Banners draped around the caravans and low-rise buildings said "No Ethnic Cleansing", "Save Us" and "Justice". A police helicopter hovered overhead.
The showdown between the bailiffs and travellers and a variety of protest groups who have joined their cause marks the climax in one of Britain's most contentious and bitter planning rows in recent years.
Basildon Council in Essex said earlier that last-ditch talks had broken down on Monday morning after the travellers asked for the eviction to be delayed until November 22.
The High Court will consider a further extension of the injunction on Friday.
Reuters
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