Now 78 Gypsies facing eviction from illegal camp claim their CHILDREN'S ‘human rights’ mean they should stay put (and you'll foot the £200,000 bill) - Lancashire

From the Daily Mail

A group of Gypsies who were facing eviction from their illegal camp are claiming it would breach their childrens' human rights if they are forced to move on.

The 78 Irish Travellers - who hail from just four families - were told to leave their camp in Hardhorn, Lancashire, by the Court of Appeal in October.

A four-year legal battle has already left taxpayers with an estimated legal bill of £200,000.

But they are now applying for permission to take their case to the Supreme Court which will delay their possible eviction further.

They have argued that being kicked off the land would 'violate' the human rights of their 39 children living on the site as their health and educational prospects would be adversely affected.

The Gypsies moved in four years ago after launching what neighbours said was a 'military-style operation' after the council offices had closed for the weekend in November 2009.

One local said: 'If these people had been good neighbours then we would have been happy to accommodate them but the fact is they have been terrible neighbours.

'The site is a terrible mess, their dogs are forever barking and they have generators running all night.

'The villagers have complained about these people poaching rabbiting and roaming all over their land then harassing them and being rude when told to behave.

'The numbers of Travellers there changes all of the time. At times there has been up to 60 caravans on the land. They are illegally there and their behaviour has been hugely disruptive.'

The Court of Appeal ruled that there could be no further appeals - but lawyers for the Travellers applied to the Supreme Court for permission for the case to be heard.

It had been hoped that enforcement action could begin today but the attempt to appeal has delayed it.

Allan Oldfield, chief executive of Fylde Council, said they had spent £200,000 fighting the case.

Inspectors have been carrying out weekly visits to the site and said over Christmas there were 43 caravans present.

Mr Oldfield said: 'We are so frustrated with the legal system that is allowing this to continue. When we had to tell the residents they were distraught. We now have to face yet another legal process and it is so frustrating.

'We were told by the High Court that there was no possibility of further appeal but they have found a loophole and the Supreme Court is now considering a possible appeal.

'We have been advised that any action we take would be unsafe until everything has resolved itself.

'This is a fight that has taken more than four years and cost taxpayers more than £200,000. It has been out of our hands for three years.

'But now to hear that there are more delays is difficult to take. It is totally irrelevant that the people concerned are Travellers. They have broken the law and set up a camp on the land. They are using expert lawyers to drag the situation on.'

The saga began in November 2009 after a field in the village - which featured in BBC’s Gardeners World - was sold by a farmer to a travelling family from West Yorkshire.

The group of 30 adults and 40 children - mainly from Irish and Scottish families - moved in and immediately began work laying foundations under outdoor spot lights.

The council were later granted an injunction banning the Travellers from bringing more caravans onto the land.

In 2010, the site was given a postcode after the Travellers applied to the court saying they needed it to help fire and ambulance crews find them in an emergency. The ruling also meant they could apply for state benefits, plus utilities including gas electricity and water.

The Travellers then applied for planning permission to stay on the fields for good and proposed to install further utility buildings, cesspools, fencing and hardstandings.

Fylde Council refused the group retrospective planning permission and issued an enforcement notice instead demanding that they move off the site. An inspector at a planning inquiry also ruled that they had to leave.

The group were given until last July to quit - but lodged an appeal at the last moment.

In October Lord Justice Richards, sitting in the Court of Appeal, ruled the visual impact on the previously unspoilt landscape, road safety concerns and the site’s large scale compared to the nearby village, outweighed the group’s pressing need for a stable home.

He ruled no further appeals could be heard.

But on November 5 the Travellers asked for permission to take their case to the Supreme Court. The court does not recovene until January 13.

Members of the Gypsy group have said they have been given 'no option' but to keep fighting.

In a statement Terry Kelly said: 'We will stay until the bitter end. The council is saying we have to leave but they have offered us nowhere else to go.

'There’s a lot of kids and elderly people but none of that has been taken into consideration.'

see also The Express - 'We shall not be moved,' say Travellers defying court order demanding them to leave site