Neighbours of a huge traveller site dubbed Kent's own version of the infamous Dale Farm say they have been threatened, abused and had their land "used as a toilet" by those who live there.

It came as residents gave evidence to a public planning inquiry to determine the future of the encampment, behind The Meadows in Headcorn.

Maidstone Borough Council issued enforcement notices on the Lenham Road site in August 2018, but the caravans' occupants have appealed the notices and countered with a raft of retrospective planning applications.

Now a government inspector is considering a total of 17 appeals at the inquiry, which is being held in Maidstone Town Hall this week.

It heard the occupants had defecated on their neighbours' land, allowed their dogs to worry sheep, trespassed and responded to challenges with threats and abuse.

Planning consultant Judith Norris, representing residents opposed to the traveller site, read one the statement of one witness, who said: "Living next door to them is very stressful. You worry the whole time what will happen next."

Another said: "They have been using my land as a toilet."

International dressage rider Daniel Watson, who runs Fiddlers Green Stud next to the site, was one of the few villagers to give evidence in person.

He said: "There have been numerous situations that we've struggled to deal with."

The inquiry heard they ranged from having children trespass on his land to receiving a torrent of verbal abuse from his neighbours.

He added: "There have been stones thrown, bottles thrown - it happens all the time."

Speaking before inspector Diane Lewis at the inquiry in Maidstone Town Hall, which was attended by a number of travellers from the site, Mr Watson said: "They threatened to punch me.

"Others - men currently sitting in this room - have sat on my drive in their vehicles beeping their horns, and then when I've gone out to see what they wanted, they got verbally abusive and threatened to burn my buildings down."

Mr Watson also relayed how, after the site had expanded in 2008, his mother's house, which was relatively low-lying, had begun to suffer from flooding, with water coming up through the floors and damp creeping up the walls.

After several years, he claims South East Water told him the travellers' site had tapped into the mains water supply, resulting in numerous leaks which had in time raised the water table.

The travellers are represented by a barrister, Alan Masters.

Mr Masters did not deny the allegations of anti-social behaviour made by Mrs Norris of his clients, but dismissed them as irrelevant.

He asked Mrs Norris: "Are you saying your argument (against the appeals) is based on fear of crime?

"When is the anti-social behaviour of certain individuals ever a planning issue?

"That is a police matter, not a planning matter."

Stefan Christodoulou, the clerk to Headcorn Parish Council, also gave evidence.

He sought to distinguish between travellers who had long been part of the Headcorn community and those that had arrived more recently.

'This site is our Dale Farm. The outcome will be of massive significance to the village'

He said the first group had integrated well, but the recent concentration of sites in one area had resulted in a "walled encampment" and the occupants "had made no attempt to integrate with the community at large."

But Mr Masters dismissed any suggestion that the travellers were dominating the community.

He said: "There are about 107 caravans - the numbers are inconsequential."

One member of the audience at the inquiry earlier this week said: "This site is our Dale Farm. The outcome will be of massive significance to the village."

The inquiry is set to continue into next week.