Health concerns at Dale Farm

The eviction of Dale Farm last year has resulted in Travellers squeezing onto an adjacent site and living in squalor.

Basildon Council has admitted the neighbouring legal site has become a "health hazard" due to overcrowding.

Half the pitches at the Oak Lane site now exceed the number of units stated in their planning permission.

The road leading up to the Essex farm is also filled with illegally parked caravans, at the last count 16.

Some came from the original illegal settlement but, the council says, there are also "new faces" on the scene.

"Our concern about this overcrowding is two fold," council leader Tony Ball said.

"It is in breach of planning conditions but, more worryingly, it is dangerous for all concerned.

"The overcrowded conditions which the Travellers have created are both becoming increasingly insanitary and are a clear and present fire risk.

"Again we have made these concerns clear to the Travellers and urged them to move away. They have refused to co-operate."

The council also revealed that provisional costs for the operation to clear Dale Farm have come in under budget

The budget for both the police and council was estimated at £18m but the total cost to the council has now been calculated at approximately £4.8m.

This included an additional £1.6m which the council had to spend between September and October in legal costs at the High Court fighting last minute injunctions and judicial reviews.

The police costs have been calculated at £2.4m compared with the £10m that was originally budgeted in the event of a worst case scenario