A High Court injunction has been granted after travellers moved caravans and materials to create an area of hardstanding, onto farmland within a conservation area at Dinton, near Aylesbury.

Buckinghamshire Council became aware of the situation when villagers reported seeing lorries and diggers moving earth to create a hardstanding on 28th February. A court order was then sought to prevent further vehicles and materials arriving at the field and participating in "unauthorised development" of the land. The injunction was almost immediately breached when a mobile home was taken onto the site later the same day.

The land, which is to the south of Upton Road, was sold last year by Michael Cook, who said he did so knowing it could not be developed due to a covenant and was only be used for agriculture.

He said he had sold roughly half of a larger field. That land was subsequently split into smaller plots and sold again at auction.

BBC Local News spoke to a man who identified himself as the landowner, but declined to be named. He told the BBC that he and his associates were gypsies and travellers who had nowhere else to go, and that he had applied for planning permission late on 27th February. The BBC has been unable to verify which plots of land the man owns.

Peter Strachan, the council's Conservative deputy leader and cabinet member for planning, said: "We know that this has been a worrying issue for the local community which is why we took immediate action. As with any legal matter, we must follow the correct procedures to ensure our actions taken are fully compliant with the law."

He said breaches were taken seriously and he hoped it "sends a clear message to everyone that it is important to abide by rules and regulations". He added that the situation would be monitored closely.

Under the terms of the injunction, no-one is allowed to:

• Live on the site
• Carry out any further works, including laying hardstandings, clearing ground or putting up fencing
• Bring any more caravans, mobile homes, structures or materials on to the land
• Encourage or help anyone else to move on to the site
• Deposit waste or other materials
• Create new tracks or roadways
• Install any utilities or services such as water, electricity or sewers
• Divide the land into plots or make any further alterations
• Bring additional vehicles or machinery on to the site
• 
  

On Tuesday, firefighters put out a blaze after a mobile home burnt down overnight.