A court order has been granted to evict a group of travellers off a village field.

Several caravans, cars and vans pitched up on the Lower Meadow Recreation Ground by Maximilian Drive in Halling.

The empampment is thought to have arrived last Sunday (May 14) on the council-owned land.

A notice was given to the group on Tuesday.

The council had applied for them to be evicted and yesterday the order was granted at Medway Magistrates’ Court.

It comes as a number of travellers were served a notice to leave nearby land in Paddlesworth Road, Snodland, less than two weeks ago.

Ian Gilmore, head of regulatory and environmental services at Medway Council, said: “We are aware of the group of travellers on Lower Meadow Recreation Ground in Halling and we are following a civil legal process to move the group on.”

Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, officers in England and Wales have been given new powers to address harms caused by such unauthorised encampments and new guidance was published.

It comes amid a national shortage of gypsy and traveller sites, with no plots currently available in Kent.