Traveller Evictions

The arrival of travellers or other unauthorised groups on your land can cause disruption to your business and concern amongst staff and visitors.
The process of removing such groups can be daunting and expensive and incur valuable time and resources. We can manage the whole process for you to reach a normally speedy and satisfactory conclusion through one call and one point of contact.

Options Available

Use the police who may act if certain criterion is met and they are willing to use the power available to them under Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. In addition to certain other requirements there must have been a request by the landowner for the trespassers to leave and the police can then serve a Notice directing the trespassers to leave within a reasonable time. If they fail to leave the police are empowered to arrest and seize vehicles and any return within three months is an offence. The police are not usually willing to use this power leaving the landowner to resort to alternative methods although the advantage of this procedure is that it is usually swift and free of charge. Any anti-social behaviour or criminality should always be reported to the police regardless of whether or not they choose to use their own powers.

Use of the civil law through the County or High Courts. This route requires an application to the Court for an Order for Possession which involves the service of certain legal paperwork on the trespassers and a specific procedure to be followed to obtain the Order as any defect in the procedure may result in it not being granted. A solicitor who specializes in property matters would know how to present the application. On granting the Order for Possession, which may take up to two weeks to obtain, the Court is then responsible for its execution which is likely to incur significant further delay. This may be overcome by “transfer up” of the Order to the High Court (if the original application is not made in the High Court) which can be done immediately after the Order is granted and then executed virtually straight away by a High Court Enforcement Officer. The same procedure may also be used for dealing with trespassers or squatters illegally occupying buildings. The transfer up process is straightforward and requires only a £66 fee paid to the Court to achieve it. A Plaintiff (landowner or representative) must be present at the time the repossession takes place and they must make the arrangements for securing the land. Under certain circumstances the police are required to assist if there is any resistance or obstruction. Apart from the additional cost of dealing with the matter through the Courts, the longer any trespassers remain the greater the likelihood of damage and post eviction clear up costs are likely to increase. Trespassers will often vacate on the day the Court Order is granted in the knowledge that they are about to be evicted. In certain cases, obtaining a Court Order may be the only option available and if so we are able to provide advice and practical assistance if required.

Section 77 & 78 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is only available to Local Authorities who will normally only use it in relation to land belonging to the Authority, but they may, if requested and they agree, use it on any other land within their Local Authority area. As with the above, the procedure can be delayed by the requirements which the Authority must fulfill in order to present their case to the Magistrates.

Our enforcement agents can assist with making the necessary welfare and other enquiries, the service of statutory notices and Court documentation and the eventual eviction. They have extensive experience in this area of work.

Common Law

is now the much-preferred method of dealing with trespassers on land and we are fairly certain that our enforcement agent team led where others eventually followed in that they identified this ancient but largely unused power in the late nineties. They made it known to numerous landowners and their agents and have since been involved in approximately 15,000 such evictions. It is fast track, and legally bypasses the need for court action. and is often referred to as “Self Help”. It is, in the hands of the right practitioner, a speedy, cost-effective and efficient way of enforcement. It does not have to be confrontational and most evictions are achieved without the use of tow trucks or undue force. The reputation of clients is a serious consideration when dealing with enforcement as the use of excessive force can attract bad publicity which can be counterproductive. Vacant possession is normally achieved with 24 to 48 hours of instructions being given and the procedure is extremely simple.