Villagers fight back against Bank Holiday invasion of travellers
2nd May 2010
A group of villagers blockaded country lanes and formed a human barricade to stop travellers taking advantage of the Bank Holiday weekend to build a caravan site near their homes.
Gipsies in the past have used Bank Holidays to tarmac over fields because they know they have an extra day before council planning officers are back at their desks to halt development.
But residents in Meriden, near Solihull, West Midlands, swung into action after they spotted the travellers swarming onto the 10-acre field in the village just after the council offices closed at 5.30pm on Friday.
They had arrived with huge mechanical diggers, planning to rip up the ground, pour concrete bases for their mobile homes, and set up a permanent site.
UPDATE: Link fixed.
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:10
Broken link