Tensions rise before Dale Farm evictions

Under a banner reading "no ethnic cleansing", the entrance to the Dale Farm Travellers' site was a hive of activity yesterday.

Supporters arrived by car, bicycle and on foot, and residents who work in other parts of the country returned to be with their families and prepare for the bailiffs tomorrow.

A police presence was also building up in the area before the eviction targeting about 50 caravans and small chalets at the site near Basildon, Essex.

Many of the Travellers were in tears as women huddled together in caravans, anxious at the impending action by Basildon council. It follows years of legal wrangling over the Travellers' right to stay on what has become the most disputed piece of privately owned land in Britain.

Ann Livingstone, 70, from Norwich, was one of those who arrived yesterday at the protest camp where around 100 to 150 people have come to give their support to the gypsies.

"I came to represent reasonable people who feel this country has come to such a silly point where £18 million ($34.3 million) of taxpayers' money can be spent in pushing people out of their homes on land they own. Where do they go now? On to someone else's land?"

Police have said the site will be sealed off by roadblocks from today. The council has refused to say if Crays Hill Primary, where 103 of the 106 pupils live at Dale Farm, will close when the Travellers are evicted.

The United Nations has voiced support of the Travellers, as have local churches and other outside agencies.

Police have been posted at local train stations, looking for any known anarchist troublemakers.

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