Protesters have foiled a bank holiday ‘land grab’ by travellers that saw bulldozers flatten a wildlife haven.

Local residents came out in force at the weekend, with many camping overnight, to vent their anger after a field was taken over in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire.

This morning, there were cheers and jubilation as vans and diggers were forced to leave by scores of police officers who had arrived to ensure that any building work came to a halt after a High Court injunction was imposed.

A temporary stop notice issued by the council on Saturday had been ignored, with work by the travellers continuing this morning until Hertfordshire Police was called in.

Sawbridgeworth mayor Angus Parsad-Wyatt said it was ‘an incredible cross-community effort’ to remove the diggers.

Police are to remain at the site in Sheering Mill Lane throughout the day and are to conduct patrols in the area.

Cllr Parsad-Wyatt said: ‘Just to reiterate our thanks to everyone who has participated in peaceful protest throughout the weekend, to the police for carefully managing a difficult situation, and to East Herts officers for working all weekend at pace to get the necessary court hearings and powers so quickly.

‘An incredible cross-community effort.’

Police officers turned up at the site in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, to ensure diggers left the area and any unauthorised works came to a stop

Local residents protesting at the site in Sheering Mill Lane

A tattooed man holding a can of Stella Artois speaks to officers at the site where work had been carried out without planning permission

Aerial pictures show that hardstanding, a concrete surface, had already been laid and fences erected to create five plots since the land grab on Friday afternoon.

Two caravans are also parked on the wildlife spot where muntjac deer are said to roam, despite an injunction temporarily blocking further development on the land, bringing caravans on site, as well as banning anyone from occupying the plot.

Josh Dean, Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford, said he was ‘appalled by the flagrant disregard for the rules and the damage that has been done to our environment’.

He joined campaigners yesterday and said in a statement posted on his Facebook page: ‘The law needs to change to ensure that local authorities have the powers they need to bring this kind of activity to a swift end. I will raise this with the Government and in Parliament, and I will work with our community to ensure your voice is heard.’

East Herts Council said the work had been carried out without planning permission.

‘The High Court injunction meant that anyone found carrying out activities prohibited by the injunction – including bringing caravans on site and occupying the land for carrying out development – could be arrested by the police. No arrests were necessary,’ the council said.

‘We will continue to work closely with Herts Police and our other partners to monitor the site and prevent any further unauthorised works. Anyone with concerns about further activity at the site should report these to the police by calling 101.’

Hertfordshire Constabulary told the Daily Mail that officers entered the site this morning and ‘all those who had unauthorised access, left the site peacefully’.

A spokesperson for the force said: ‘This was following an amended High Court injunction, which was granted and served this morning. The High Court injunction meant that anyone found carrying out activities prohibited by the injunction – including bringing caravans on site and occupying the land for carrying out development – could be arrested by the police. No arrests were necessary.’

East Herts District Council remains the lead agency and we will continue to work closely with them and our other partners to monitor the site and prevent any further unauthorised works. Anyone with concerns about further activity at the site should report these to the police by calling 101.

Sawbridgeworth is the latest area to be targeted after huge lorries arrived on Friday morning with fences going up and roads being blocked.

In videos posted on social media, birds were heard chirping as work involving heavy machinery was carried out on greenbelt land. It devastated residents who feared travellers had taken over and destroyed the precious wetland habitat and floodplain.

The council issued a Temporary Stop Notice, which required builders to halt further work on the site, but residents claimed unauthorised work continued regardless.

One neighbour, in her 50s who wished to be anonymous, has lived in the area all her life and told the Daily Mail she felt ‘powerless’ and ‘devastated’.

She said: ‘I believe they are travellers building a traveller site. Some people don’t want them anywhere, and I think they should go through all the steps that everyone else has to when it comes to planning and building.

‘They definitely don’t have permission – the order was ignored and they’ve continued to bring in diggers and all sorts of machines.’

Protesters lined the road as vans and diggers left a field this morning in Sawbridgeworth, East Hertfordshire

Aerial pictures show that hardstanding, a concrete surface, had already been laid and fences erected to create five plots since the land grab on Friday

In videos posted on social media, birds can be heard chirping as work involving heavy machinery is carried out on greenbelt land

The resident added that she and her neighbours are mostly saddened by the destroyed habitats of the protected wildlife, including bats, newts and nesting birds.

She said: ‘The reserve has been around for as long as life and within a day it was destroyed. It’s a total destruction of nature, it’s absolutely disgusting.

‘There’s a lady who lives right across the road from it and she’s in tears. We’re completely appalled by the destruction; it’s devastating to be so powerless in the situation.

‘It’s the bank holiday and no one has the chance to stop it before it’s too late, so they’ve got four days to destroy habitats’.

It follows a trend that has seen travellers purchase land, often in leafy parts of the Home Counties, and then set up unauthorised sites.

One concerned neighbour expressed dismay over the irreversible damage to the wildlife and the inaction from authorities over the long weekend.

She said: ‘Heavy machinery and diggers began bulldozing a beautiful wetland beside our village lock. The area is an important habitat for birds and other wildlife, and it is now being rapidly churned up and covered with large quantities of hardcore.

‘East Herts Council has issued a Temporary Stop Notice. However, despite that notice, machinery and vehicles are continuing to operate on the site and further material is being brought in.’

They added: ‘We are extremely concerned that by the time the relevant authorities are able to take effective action, this precious wetland and its wildlife habitat will have been irreversibly damaged.

‘This is not simply a planning dispute. It is an environmental emergency happening right now, with heavy machinery actively destroying a wildlife habitat.’

Neighbours organised a peaceful protest that was held at the lot on Sunday morning to convey their frustration.

Another resident also told the Daily Mail: ‘Many, many residents are distraught, dismayed and feel very let down by the laws relating to this kind of destruction of wildlife habitats beside a lovely picturesque lock in a pretty historic small town.’

It’s the latest ‘bank holiday land grab’ to occur after construction works suddenly got underway on a greenbelt plot of land in Irby, Merseyside.

Three caravans, two diggers, two cars and a van have been seen on the land, which is located just yards from residents’ homes.

No planning application has been submitted for works to be completed on the site, according to the Wirral Council planning portal.

A number of locals believe it is travellers who have bought the land and are conducting the illegal works.

One resident said that she and her neighbours were saddened by the destruction of the habitat of protected wildlife, including bats, newts and nesting birds

Neighbours organised a peaceful protest on Sunday morning to convey their frustration, with many staying overnight

The council issued a Temporary Stop Notice which requires further work on the site to be halted, but the order was ignored

Last week, travellers who held an entire village to ransom for £600,000 in a land grab scam applied to officially house caravans on the site after their ‘blackmail attempt’ backfired.

The family bought the greenfield site, which is the size of a tennis court, just outside the Buckinghamshire village of Dinton in February – and immediately drove three caravans and a mobile home onto the plot.

In a carefully orchestrated operation, diggers and lorries moved onto a quarter-of-an-acre plot off to lay hardstanding rubble and position caravans in the designated conservation area.

Horrified villagers, who protested against what they call an illegal land grab, say they were approached by two men who said that if they wanted them to leave the area, they could buy back the land for more than £600,000 – 40 times the £15,000 they are believed to have paid for it.

Now, after the 800 people living in Dinton refused to bend to the travellers’ demands, the family’s patriarch Jimmy Doran has officially applied to the council to turn it into a permanent residence.