Carnage has ensued over the Bank Holiday as travellers spent their weekend tearing up fields and cutting down trees whilst council offices were closed, it has been reported.
Sites in West Sussex, Kent, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire were among the locations targeted over the three-day break.
In West Chiltington, West Sussex, heavy machinery moved onto a field on Friday near the world-renowned Nyetimber sparkling wine estate.
Work continued throughout the weekend despite the presence of both council officers and police at the scene, the Daily Mail reports.
Aerial images showed a large portion of the field had been tarmacked over by the end of the weekend, with a number of mobile homes appearing ready to move in.
One local said: "The local council and police were here then, but the work carried on."
Another neighbour said vehicles had been arriving at the field continuously since Friday, adding that no planning notices had been erected at the site.
Horsham District Council confirmed it had issued Temporary Stop Notices on Saturday morning following reports that unauthorised works were likely to take place, adding that investigations were continuing and further formal action may follow.
Councils across the country were on 'red alert' for traveller land grabs over the Bank Holiday weekend
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Sussex Police confirmed officers attended to prevent a breach of the peace in support of the local authority as the lead agency.
This is a continuation of a well-established pattern of development timed to coincide with public holidays when enforcement authorities are unavailable.
Councils across the country were on "red alert" for traveller land grabs, having uncovered a Facebook post by a construction firm boss arranging deliveries of materials to development locations in Horley, Surrey and Horsham, West Sussex.
Karl Kavanagh, 48, who runs KK Construction in Hampshire, posted to an online group seeking around 100 loads of crushed aggregate and tipper lorries over the bank holiday weekend, offering £200 a load.
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Some travellers make the most of council offices being closed on Bank Holidays by bringing in excavators and diggers to clear plots of land (stock image)
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When contacted, Mr Kavanagh said he was acting as a subcontractor and did not know the precise purpose of the deliveries.
He acknowledged he could not rule out the materials being destined for traveller sites, saying some firms would provide them "when money was involved”.
In West Malling, Kent, locals reported a burst of activity at an existing traveller site on Friday, with workers seen clearing trees and removing boundary screening.
Despite a traveller at the site denying any plans to expand onto new land and claiming permission had been granted for landscaping, a further mobile home was moved onto the site on Bank Holiday Monday.
One resident described it as "another bank holiday land grab", adding that it was "obvious from the road" a planning breach had occurred.
In West Malling, the land was purchased for just £105,000 at auction in 2020 before caravans, mobile washrooms, a septic tank and dog kennels were illegally installed over a series of weekends.
Although an enforcement notice was issued in 2021, the decision was successfully appealed and permission was eventually granted in December last year.
By this point the land had been reclassified as Grey Belt and part of the field was estimated to be worth as much as £1.4million.
Locals described their "treasured greenbelt land" as having been "transformed into a lucrative asset for those who flouted planning laws."
In Grimsby, Lincolnshire, travellers bulldozed barriers and set up camp at Weelsby Woods, with caravans stationed at the site and previously installed barriers designed to prevent unauthorised access having been removed.
In Netherseal, Derbyshire, a fresh pitch was created on Saturday with static caravans reportedly already in place, located just a mile from another traveller site currently the subject of a separate planning battle.
One pitch on land near the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, which is subject to a High Court injunction preventing further development or occupation, was being advertised for sale on Facebook with room for 20 families.
The man behind the advert, who originates from Tuam in Galway, said he had posted it on behalf of a friend and knew nothing about the price, before removing the listing almost immediately after being contacted.
GB News has reached out to Tonbridge and Malling councils for comment.