Dale Farm eviction ruling faces further delay

Travellers returned to the high court in London in the hope of persuading a judge to extend an injunction preventing counncil officials and bailiffs from moving onto the site with bulldozers.

But the judge is now expected to delay his ruling on the planned evictions until Monday at the earliest.

Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart granted a temporary injunction on 19 September – the deadline day when the site was due to be cleared.

He said there was a fear that measures being taken by the council “may go further” than the terms of enforcement notices served on Dale Farm residents.

Now the priority must be ensuring people are not left homeless… travellers are allowed to live in dignity. James Worthing, Dale Farm Solidarity

Nora Sheridan, who lives on the site, said: “We’re just keeping our fingers crossed – praying for a good result. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The planned clearance of Dale Farm follows a decade-long row over unauthorised pitches. There are 34 legal pitches on the neighbouring Oak Lane site.

Many travellers had left in anticipation of the clearance but have returned in the hope they will be allowed to remain.

In a statement, James Worthing from the Dale Farm Solidarity campaign group, said: “It looks like this won’t be resolved until at least Monday; it is obvious that Basildon council’s schedule is insufficiently clear and the court is now going through the details of what can and cannot be removed plot by plot.

Read more: Dale Farm travellers fear 'excessive force' at eviction

“Now the priority must be ensuring people are not left homeless, that children do not lose their right to eduction and that, as the judge stated, travellers are allowed to live in dignity.”