The definition of the word traveller is ‘someone who does not have a permanent home and who travels from one place to another’. I applaud Basildon Council for having the backbone to stand up for the Law of this country and evict the Irish travellers who do not have planning permission.

Dale Farm was started in the 1970s when Basildon District Council in Essex gave planning permission to 40 families. The entirety of Dale Farm, legal and unauthorised, now contains about 100 families. The disputed section is a ‘former scrap yard on seven acres of greenbelt land’.

Basildon Council has been undertaking court proceedings for the last 10 years to evict these so called travellers at huge cost to the tax payer. The c.400 illegal Irish travellers even have the gaul to accuse the council of ethnic cleansing. Perhaps they should read up on real ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia!

If a normal person (non-traveller) built a dwelling on a piece of land in the green belt, or even tried to legally apply for planning permission, the local council would have the issue resolved very swiftly, and quite rightly in Law’s favour.

Why are we pandering to these people who are blatantly breaking the law? If they want to be classed as travellers, then why don’t they stay in their caravans and travel? If not, sell their caravans and live in a house like the rest of the population.