By Hayley Robinson

A family of gipsies have won an appeal to move to a site in Bobbing.

An application was submitted to Swale Borough Council by Robert Beck for two caravans as well as a single-storey block providing a toilet, shower, kitchen and dining room on land opposite the Garden of England Crematorium in Sheppey Way.

It was refused by the planning committee in March but a mobile home was put on the land and the council issued a notice for its removal in May.

Mr Beck appealed against the notice and the decision and planning inspector Ian Currie overturned the council’s original decision after a hearing at Swale House.

A number of conditions were attached to the decision, one of which is that only Mr Beck and those living with him can occupy the site.

Bobbing Parish Council, which objected to the original planning application, is disappointed by the decision.

Parish clerk Sue Crawford said: "Local residents are also bitterly disappointed especially those living in nearby listed properties.

"However there are a lot of conditions so we’ll have to see what Mr Beck does."

A spokesman for the borough council said: "We are naturally disappointed with the inspector’s decision and are currently considering its content."