THESE haunting images show the scorched ruins of the notorious Dale Farm gypsy camp – eight years after an explosive battle to kick travellers off the site.
Bailiffs and cops fought vicious battles to clear the six-acre plot near Basildon, Essex in October 2011.
The eviction cost taxpayers almost £7million – but the site has since become an eerie ruin as it is slowly reclaimed by nature.
The site has now been swamped in fly-tipped rubbish – forcing locals to build a concrete fence to keep out criminals.
A traveller on a legal site next to Dale Farm said: “It’s a disgrace I don’t know where they are coming from.
“The police say they can’t do anything to help us and we’ve been forced to build this fence to stop them.
“It’s just not safe with all this rubbish here and it looks awful.”
In one home on the site scorched timbers line what is left of its roof as mould stains its walls.
Spooky echoes of the property’s previous inhabitants including bottles of alcohol and an electric chandelier litter the property.
In the bathroom a Catholic mural lines a wall as electrical wiring hangs from the ceiling.
Broken glass, a dumped sofa and guttering now line the driveway – which has become completely overgrown.
In 2017 council officials began to clear a shocking 180 tonnes of rubbish, asbestos and litter left near the site in in Crays Hill, Essex.
The rubbish had sat there for more than five years after the last caravans left the notorious encampment.
It was once the largest illegal travellers’ site in Europe – at its height more than 1,000 were people living there – and was at the centre of a decade-long planning row.
But in October 2011 six acres of land were finally cleared amid scenes of violence as travellers and campaigners clashed with bailiffs and police.
The final cost of the eviction was nearly £7m, with Basildon Council picking up a bill for £4.3m whilst Essex Police spent £2.4m on their involvement.
In the early 2000s, gypsy Richard Sheridan bought a cottage and land called Dale Farm next to a legitimate traveller site in the area for £120,000.
Then he and his family then divided it into 51 plots, selling each for as little as £5,000 and about 1000 travellers began to illegally camp on the green belt land.
Because they did not have planning permission, an epic ten year battle ensued with the council.
However, in October 2011, 86 of the families were evicted from their homes.
The site at its height had more than 1,000 people living there but was at the centre of a decade-long planning row.
Six acres of land were cleared and the final cost of the eviction was nearly £7million.
After the drama the 60-plot site has become overgrown – leading some to question if the evictions and all the upheaval they caused were worthwhile.
Basildon Council sent invoices to the travellers, demanding payments to cover the costs of the operation.
The average bill was about £60,000 – although the highest demand was £350,000 – but to date, not a single penny has been recovered.
