Report an unauthorised encampment

Report an unauthorised encampment using our online form or call us on 01992 564000.

You can also call Essex Police on 101 unless there is an emergency in which case you should call 999.

If there is any criminal activity occurring from the occupiers of the site, or on this site, please report to Essex Police.

List of unauthorised encampments

Before making a new report, please check our list of reported unauthorised encampments. You do not need to tell us if it is already on the list.

Reported unauthorised encampments:

• Cottis Lane / Bakers Lane, Epping – We are aware of this encampment, and are visiting the site to serve letters on the encampment and start the possession order process. We are unable to give a timescale for the removal of the encampment, as this will depend on court availability.
• Old Shire Lane, Waltham Abbey – We are aware of this encampment. The group are on Essex County Council Highways land so they will be dealing with the process to remove them from the land. A direction to leave is to be served by the Essex Traveller unit on 23 February. Full court process can take up to 7-10 working days.
• Willingale Road, Willingale – We are aware that a field in Willingale Road, Willingale has been developed over the weekend into a residential caravan site. This has been done without planning permission. Our Planning Enforcement Team is investigating and will take the appropriate action in respect of this breach
• Station Hill, Theydon Bois – This is not an unauthorised traveller encampment, but potentially unauthorised development of the land. It is being investigated by the Planning Enforcement Team. We are aware of the notes left on vehicles purporting to be from the council and are investigating these

What happens next?

We will attend and record the details of the encampment and make an assessment in relation to the use of relevant powers. Should the police attend, they will also assess if they are able to use their powers regarding the encampment.

Where an encampment is on private land we will liaise with the landowner and Essex Police to ensure any impact on local communities and the environment is kept to a minimum.

Options available to private landowners include proceedings for possession of land through the County Courts and the use of private bailiffs to secure land and remove trespassers.

If the travellers are camping on land that they own, this will be for our planning enforcement team to investigate.

Public register of licensed sites

We keep a public register of licensed sites and we have standard licence conditions for these sites.

• Public register of licensed gypsy sites (pdf 121KB)
• Standard licence conditions for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites (pdf 50KB)