How to Protect your Land from Gypsies and Travellers

Gypsies and Travellers are two of the most prominent mobile groups in the UK; in Europe other terms such as Roma and Sinti are more commonly used.  In the US “Gypsy” is considered offensive but here in the UK the term has been claimed by the community.

This post is in no way intended to be Anti-Ziganist, we acknowledge the prejudice against Roma and that the comminuty is amongst one the most oppressed minority groups in Europe.

Our intention is to help to safeguard those who believe that they are at risk of their land being illegally occupied by a small section of the Gypsy and Travelling community.

Unauthorised camping by Gypsies and Travellers is not a criminal offence. Trespass is a civil offence, giving landowners and local authorities the right to repossess their property using the due process of law.

However, unless the landowner has already obtained planning permission for a caravan site the landowner may be in breach of the Planning Acts and the Acts dealing with the licensing of caravan sites. If the landowner is in breach of any planning or license requirements, then the council may take proceedings against the landowner to require removal of the illegal encampment.

Breaking in and damaging property are separate offences to trespass. Trespass on land by itself is not a criminal offence. Prevention of trespass and the removal of trespassers are the responsibility of the landowner and not the police.  If the police were able to attribute any damage to any of the Gypsies and Travellers they could be prosecuted through the courts but their punishment would not be eviction of the whole encampment.

It is a national problem that traditional stopping places are being protected to such an extent that Gypsies and Travellers are being forced into larger groups and on to more conspicuous sites. They are also more likely to seek to prolong their stay if their options for alternative sites are reduced.

In May 2016 the leader of a group of travellers attempted to blackmail a brewery boss for £20,000 before ordering a 100-strong gang to destroy the building when demands were not met.  A spokesman for the travellers allegedly told brewery bosses: “Twenty grand or the place is ours”.  Travellers went on a wrecking spree and ransacked the office building later that afternoon after the travellers formed the view that their demand would not be met.  Staff and police finally gained full access to the brewery on May 28 and the brewery boss said he was greeted by a scene of “utter devastation”, with extensive damage estimated at £300,000.

In Spetember 2019, police were called to a pub disturbance in Seaford, witnesses state that approximatley 200 members of a nearby Gypsy and Traveller encampment where inside the pub.  The police took reports of Criminal Damage.

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You dont need a crystal ball to know if you will be affected by an illegal Gypsy and Traveller encampment, the best way to avoid these sorts of problems is to be proactive and protect your private land from travellers in the first place.

There are considerations to be taken into account when designing protective measures. They have to be economic and they have to take account of the other uses of the site. For example, public areas and picnic sites must continue to give access to the general public but if some access is allowed there is always an opportunity for unwanted visitors to break in.

A Security Risk Assessment is a proactive approach to addressing many concerns.  Depending upon the size and complexity of your organisation’s environment, indeed you may be an indivual protecting farm land, a simplified assessment may be first approach to protecting your land.

A Security Assessment (sometimes refererred to as a Vulnerability Assessment) may be conducted on behalf of a range of different organisations, from small businesses up to large regional infrastructures.  It is especially important that companies and organisations define threats, identify assets and mitigate any potential undesired event, including Gypsy and Traveller encampments.

You will have read the two examples given within the High-Profile Cases Section, with today’s global marketplace, companies cannot afford to tarnish their reputation with a public security incident. Companies can suffer major financial losses if a security incident is encountered in the business. The fear of revenue loss should motivate companies to begin taking proactive measures against vulnerabilities in their infrastructure.

Our experienced Security Assessors will:

• Define the threat
• Identify assets and prioritise them by consequence of loss
• Mitigate or eliminate the most serious threats for the most valuable resource

The Gypsy and Traveller problem will primarily exist externally but the assessment can be conducted to include the possibility of internally too.

Protecting your land from Gypsies and Travellers has never been more complex, if any individual is determined to enter you land the likelihood is that they will, but protecting your land, creating physical barriers to deter or abort their attempt is certainly the best option.

You will be pleased to know that there are many different ways to protect your land, but here are a few of the simpler ideas:

• Security Cameras and Guards are some of the most effective ways to protecting your land against Gypsies and Travellers but can prove costly.  Bollards or other natural obstacles can be used as a substitute.
• Natural Obstacles such as trees or water make unauthorised entrance to the land harder.
• Other Obstacles such as boulders or very heavy concrete blocks can be used to block access, but they must not be very easily moved even with towing equipment.  These are often best used in conjunction with other methods.
• Fencing is generally a good option, it is often visually more appealing and an obvious deterrent but fencing can prove costly.
• Gates and high barriers made of metal with the option of padlocks are another solution to protect your property against travellers. However, make sure the gate cannot be lifted off the hinge as travellers have been known to remove such obstacles by exploiting this weakness in design. Height barriers are further solutions that can work well in combination with gates. If you use these, ensure that their height is configured in a way that can deter an average sized caravan trailer.

Now, if you are considering hiring a World-Class Private Investigator due to similar Gypsey and Traveller issues, you may want to give our office a call here at INSIGNIS Investigations.  If you’re comfortable discussing your issue over the phone, we can take a few minutes to do that (Of course, all conversations are strictly confidential).   If you then see any value in it, we can meet at one of our offices to discuss how to resolve the issue in person. Get in touch today!

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