Travellers plan reoccupation of Dale Farm, judge told - The Guardian

Travellers are threatening to return to an "infamous" illegal settlement once workers have finished clearing the site, a high court judge has been told.

Lawyers representing a local authority overseeing a clearance operation want a court order preventing Travellers from reoccupying green-belt land at Dale Farm near Basildon, Essex.

Reuben Taylor, for Basildon council, told a judge sitting in London that Travellers had told contractors clearing the site they aimed to return.

Mr Justice Langstaff said he wanted more detailed evidence of threats of reoccupation before granting an injunction and adjourned the hearing until Monday.

The council began clearing the six-acre Dale Farm settlement last month after a decade-long row over unauthorised Traveller plots on the site.

Contractors started clearing caravans and hard standing after a police operation to remove protesters.