Victory for common sense as farmer who threatened to smash Travellers' caravans with his digger wins support of police to evict them

From the Daily Mail

Discovering the overnight arrival of Travellers’ caravans on his land, farmer Dave Dawson had a choice.

He could either alert the authorities and wait for the slow turning wheels of council procedure and human rights legislation to decide an outcome.

Or he could rely on the somewhat quicker wheels of his tractor - to remove the caravans by mechanical force.

Opting for the second course of action, Mr Dawson, 67, called his local police to inform them of his intentions.

And undeterred by the fact that he could face arrest for what he was about to do, he set those agricultural wheels in motion.

Then, astonishingly, after police arrived and oversaw what appeared to be a few heated exchanges - the Travellers left of their own accord.

Yesterday Mr Dawson, whose farm is near Shoreham, West Sussex, said he had discovered the invasion early yesterday morning.

He said: ‘I would have used any force possible to get them off my land.

‘I got down here about 6am and told them to move off.

‘There were four vans there at the time and more parked up outside.

‘I came down with the digger and tractor and told them if they didn’t more I was going to move them. I just won’t tolerate it.

‘It is my land. I bought it and I have worked hard for it.’

Mr Dawson continued: ‘I called the police and told them I was going to get the digger and move them.

‘I didn’t care if they got squashed, flattened or left on their own, but one way or another I was going to get them off my land.

‘At one point the police had to get between us.

‘The police told me that once they are on the land they have rights. But what about my rights?

‘If I had left it to the authorities they could have been on my land for weeks.

‘I wasn’t going to wait for a court order to get rid of them.

‘As it was the police threatened to arrest me.

‘It has already cost me a day’s work and about £500 to repair the damage.

‘They cut through a metal gate and put their own lock on it.’

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: ‘Six caravans turned up on land at Longacres Farm, Shoreham, at 6.45am.

‘The landowner also turned up and threatened to evict the travellers.’

She added: ‘Police attended and remained on scene to prevent a breach of peace.

‘The Travellers left the site of their own accord at 9.35am.’