Council try to block travellers from entering field with 'ring of steel' and use tractor to kick up dust and force caravans out

Published: 00:02, 19 August 2026 | Updated: 00:02, 19 August 2026 Council staff attempted to block travellers from entering a field with a 'ring of steel' and kicked up dust from the dry ground to try and force them out. Contractors in Gosport, Hampshire, have tried to intimidate travellers away from setting up camp on a field near a school. Photographs showed a line of five council trucks parked at the edge of the Grange Lane Fields in Gosport in an attempt to prevent more caravans from turning off the road and setting up camp.  A council tractor was also sent to cut the lawn on the bone-dry orange grass, resulting in only a large dust cloud being kicked up from the ground. However, local residents on social media revealed that more travellers arrived at the camp once council staff clocked off for the day at 5pm.  In a statement on Facebook, the Gosport Reform Party wrote: 'Council vehicles are arriving now to prevent further travellers arriving and Police are on scene at Grange Lane fields next to the school in Rowner. Hopefully more grass cutting takes place! 'Access to the field and other areas of the Borough are too easy for vehicles to gain entry.  'Cllrs Paul Carter and Paul Jacobs have been asking the council as far back as September last year, along with the Conservatives more recently to put measures in place to protect our open spaces, yet we are still waiting for action.' A line of five council trucks attempted to guard the entrance to the Grange lane fields in Gosport, Hampshire A tractor was also sent to cut the dead grass on the bone dry field, kicking up a cloud of dust Council officers parked at the fields where the travellers parked up  Laura Biddle, a local resident, raised concerns that a traveller camp has returned each year she has lived nearby. She added: 'Let's hope they don't light a fire! I live in the flats near there. I have lived here for years now and they come back every summer.' A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police wrote: 'We are aware of an unauthorised encampment at a site on Grange Lane, Gosport. 'Officers have attended the site and we are liaising with the landowners, Gosport Borough Council.' On the same day, a councillor in nearby Fareham shared photographs of the scene which travellers had just left. Piles of rubbish had been left on a field next to a public footpath, including tents, a pram, gas canisters, wires, water bottles and piles of bin bags. A motorcycle was also left on the field, surrounded by debris.  Cllr Simon Martin wrote: 'So following the eviction of travellers who decided to break our fencing to gain illegal access to our land in Park Lane and damage our property, this is what we are now left with to clear up. All of which will have to be paid for by the Council.' Labour has been accused of watering down standards for traveller sites and making it easier for new camps to be set up. In a major update to national planning laws, Angela Rayner's department removed a series of earlier proposals to limit the impact of the encampments. Concerns about 'long-distance travelling' and the 'potential environmental damage caused by unauthorised encampment' were deleted from the final version of the blueprint published on Monday. The new National Planning Policy Framework also omitted references in last year's draft version to 'minimising adverse impacts from local environmental factors (such as noise and air quality) on the health and wellbeing of travellers that may locate there'. Another sentence about making sure travellers and their sites are not 'isolated from the rest of the community' was also removed. The updated document also included a new suggestion that 'locations not well-related to existing settlements may be appropriate'. Litter left by travellers at a park in Fareham, Hampshire, near to the encampment in Gosport Bin bags were piled high and fly tipped next to a footpath through the park in Fareham A motorcycle was also left on the field in Fareham, surrounded by debris Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly – who fought an illegal traveller site in his Essex constituency – said: 'Andy Burnham is only weeks into the job and he is already u-turning on Labour's planning changes and making it easier for travellers to abuse the system. 'By watering down the rules, Labour are inviting travellers to set up unauthorised camps and simply get things rubber-stamped by planning officers after the concrete has been poured. 'Local communities forced to tolerate lawbreaking from a small minority of travellers will be furious that Angela Rayner's department is trying to stop the authorities from combatting these underhand tactics.' On Sunday, the Tories vowed to crack down on illegal traveller sites if they return to power, by banning indefinite returns and ending retrospective planning approval. Gosport Borough Council has been contacted for comment.