Watch travellers give
their side of the story.

Travellers who set up camp illegally on green
belt land in Gravesham are today facing eviction.

Up to 39 people on the White Post Lane site in
Sole Street, Meopham were due to be removed following five years of
action by the council which culminated in an order for
the travellers to leave the site by October 2008.

The site has been occupied since October 2004
when travellers moved onto part of a field owned by another
traveller which they said they had bought. They created a road and
hard-standings for eight static mobile homes with parking for a
number of touring caravans.

Gravesham Borough Council says the eviction is
taking place because the travellers contravened enforcement notices
requiring them to move from the Green Belt land in a Special
Landscape Area and return it to agricultural use.

Roads around the site were being closed by
police.

Council leader Cllr Mike Snelling said: "This
situation has gone on long enough and I very much hope this will
bring this sorry episode to a speedy and peaceful conclusion."

• More news from the Gravesend area at the Gravesend Messenger website >>>