Gosport Borough Council deployed a tractor to mow a bone-dry field near a school, creating a large cloud of dust directed at an unauthorised traveller encampment in Grange Lane Fields, Hampshire. The tactic aimed to pressure the group to leave the site, which a resident said sees travellers return each year.
The tractor was driven close to where a caravan and a tent were pitched, kicking up dust that flew around the encampment. Further photographs showed council trucks lined up at the edge of the field, forming what some described as a 'ring of steel' to prevent additional arrivals. Despite these efforts, after council staff left at 5pm, locals reported that more travellers turned up.
Council and Police Response to Encampment
The travellers have since been served with an eviction notice. A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police confirmed: 'We are aware of an unauthorised encampment at a site on Grange Lane, Gosport. Officers have attended the site and we are liaising with the landowners, Gosport Borough Council.'
In a Facebook statement, the Gosport Reform Party wrote: 'Council vehicles are arriving now to prevent further travellers arriving and Police are on scene at Grange Lane fields next to the school in Rowner. Hopefully more grass cutting takes place! Access to the field and other areas of the Borough are too easy for vehicles to gain entry. Cllrs Paul Carter and Paul Jacobs have been asking the council as far back as September last year, along with the Conservatives more recently to put measures in place to protect our open spaces, yet we are still waiting for action.'
Political Reaction and Wider Context
Reform leader Nigel Farage also penned in a post alongside a video of the tractor: 'These are the crazy things that councils have to do to remove illegal encampments.' He added that Reform 'will give the police powers to remove illegal encampments immediately, seize the vehicles and make arrests'. 'Local communities have been plagued by this madness for too long because the legacy parties are too weak to do anything about it.'
Laura Biddle, who lives in a nearby block of flats, added that the travellers 'come back every summer'. Meanwhile, on the same day, Simon Martin, a councillor in Fareham, shared photos of rubbish left behind after travellers moved on from land in Park Lane. The images showed bin bags, cardboard boxes, packaging from children's toys, and even a motorcycle abandoned. Cllr Martin wrote: 'So following the eviction of travellers who decided to break our fencing to gain illegal access to our land in Park Lane and damage our property, this is what we are now left with to clear up. All of which will have to be paid for by the Council.'
This comes as the Labour Party faces criticism for watering down planning rules to enable 'illegal' traveller sites. Tory Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly said that Angela Rayner removing two rules as part of a planning revision to fast-track homebuilding – rules councils used to block unauthorised campers – leaves local communities to 'tolerate lawbreaking from a small minority of travellers'. 'Andy Burnham talks about devolution, but once again, he is stopping councils from making their own decisions about what's best for their areas.'
