The 4.15pm Easter coup: As council workers clocked off for the bank holiday weekend, two sets of travellers began a ‘land grab’ – and quickly started building

A prime plot of land in sleepy Sundridge, in the heart of the city’s stockbroker belt, went up for auction last September.

The one-acre site, in an area of ​​outstanding natural beauty, had a reserve price of £60,000 and attracted numerous bids, eventually going under the hammer for £167,000.

‘We thought we could put the money to good use,’ said John Evans, the tireless chairman of the district council that owns the land. His words were said with a tired smile. Considering the events of the past week, who can blame him?

Plot number 75, which was included in the auction, was now occupied by travelers coming to the village during Easter, causing chaos in the society. Poor Mr. Evans was falsely accused of selling the site to them, even accused by some of being part of a money laundering operation. The situation was further exacerbated by unfounded rumors that the new ‘residents’ were part of a notorious clan imprisoned for forcing defenseless individuals into slavery.

On top of all this, there was a shootout with the police when a static house loaded onto a lorry became stuck on the country lane leading to the site, leaving the route impassable until the early hours of Monday morning.

Cue the chaos. Villagers came to the scene. Tempers flared. The police were called. Arrests were made; At least one arrest: so is Mr. Evans’ son.

James Evans was taken to a cell with his hands cuffed behind his back for telling two locals to ignore requests from police to move their cars as they blocked the truck from entering the site; this apparently amounted to ‘obstruction of an officer’.

Remember, this is a place in Sundridge (pop. about 1,200) where problems of any kind are as rare as hens’ teeth. Isn’t it ironic, many say, that the only person who gets a collar felted is a respected member of the community who runs his own landscaping business and feels that the local police force is, rightly or wrongly, ‘aiding and abetting’ lawbreakers (travelers) who move onto green belt land and run businesses without planning permission?

The wider narrative, and a cautionary tale for towns and villages everywhere, is that what is happening in this corner of Kent, on the outskirts of Sevenoaks, where houses regularly command prices in excess of £2 million, is part of a tried and tested modus operandi.

The farmland was one of three incidents of so-called ‘land grabbing’ in three different counties (the others being Surrey and Hertfordshire) over the four-day weekend.

The timing was no coincidence. Councils were closed over the bank holiday weekend and so were unable to take any action to prevent the apparent breach of planning rules. Retroactive planning permission can be applied to construction works in all cases, including static homes in distress and human rights legislation being ruthlessly abused to prevent eviction.

According to Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, this has created ‘two tiers of justice’; Badenoch has vowed to end this justice by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the Conservatives win the next general election.

Title documents confirm that the person who purchased the land was Miles Martin Connors. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he announced that he would apply for retrospective planning permission.

‘I need a place to live with my family,’ he said, and his wife Margaret echoed the same: ‘No one will live on this land except me, my husband and my three children.’

Their two-bedroom static house remains intact. Drainage pipes were laid and a septic tank was installed. Please note that all of this work was carried out over the Easter weekend so there was no advance warning to local residents.

But the family are now living in a mobile home on the site (they also own a caravan belonging to their daughter) because a temporary ‘cease notice’ was issued by Sevenoaks District Council on Tuesday requiring unauthorized works to stop for up to 56 days, meaning the intended home cannot be supplied with electricity or running water.

Mr. Connors complied with the order, but he, or at least his lawyer, knows this is a battle he will eventually win.

Why did trucks and diggers move in so many days into Good Friday? He insists that this is down to ‘contractors’ who have told him they are ‘ready to do the job’ and that he wants to leave the site he had previously been to in Tonbridge because of the ‘trouble’ there and his wife’s poor health.

Static house and accompanying caravan in the village of Sundridge, Kent.

Not everyone in Sundridge will believe him. Additionally, Mr Connors said it was the ‘contractors’ who began removing hedges and bushes from the side of the narrow road to free the lorry (carrying the static house), particularly those who angered the residents.

‘All I wanted to do was find a home for the family,’ he repeatedly emphasized, and said his lawyer would object to any sanctions.

Unfortunately, the febrile atmosphere following the bank holiday mayhem was further intensified when Mr Connors became the victim of mistaken identity. Rumors spread through the village that he was Miles Connors, from a family of millionaire wanderers who was sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison in 2012 for beating homeless vagabonds and addicts and forcing them to live in squalor and work for pittance.

According to our checks, same name, different person.

When informed of the rumors, Mr. Connors replied, “For Christ’s sake!” he shouted. He said he knew the other Miles Connors, who gave the travelers a bad name.

Even the incarcerated Miles Connors is 38 years old. Miles (Martin) Connors, standing in the field he bought, is 45 years old. Moreover, they do not look alike.

But rumors and other misinformation led to absurd accusations that the church council was laundering money on behalf of the new property owner, to which authorities responded with a statement on its website.

“It is disappointing and unacceptable to hear inaccurate, divisive and potentially defamatory comments directed at members of the parish council,” the statement said. ‘Councillors are volunteers who give their time freely and work tirelessly in the interests of our community.’

None more so than President John Evans himself. However, at a hastily called public meeting, Mr Evans offered to resign.

‘I told everyone this because it was my suggestion to put the land up for sale in the first place. I submitted my resignation to the city council. They flatly refused. I subsequently received many emails of support from local residents.’

Mr Evans said the sale, carried out by auctioneer Clive Emson, often seen on TV’s Homes Under the Hammer, and the county council’s own lawyers, was completely transparent and the usual ‘due diligence’ was carried out, including anti-money laundering checks.

But this is probably the first time that ‘money laundering’ and ‘neighbourhood council’ are mentioned in the same sentence.

Mr Evans explained: ‘We must get the best value for taxpayers. This is a legal obligation. Several people warned us that travelers would buy the land. But we’re not allowed to discriminate.’ However, the fallout from the sale has been volcanic. ‘Everyone is reeling from last weekend,’ said one resident, a businessman. ‘The village is in shock.’

Another, who lives near the field with his wife and two children, said on behalf of many: ‘I believe the family is working in collaboration with the contractors [something Mr Connors denies] supplying trucks and hardcore and acting with military precision, breaking all planning rules.’

Handcuffed: Local James Evans was removed by police for ‘obstructing an officer’ after telling two locals to ignore requests to move their cars which blocked the lorry from entering the site

Almost everyone we spoke to was critical of the police response; particularly James Evans, the son of the aforementioned county council chairman. He got involved in the chaos on Easter Sunday because it was near his parents’ house and he wanted to know what was going on.

After his arrest, Mr Evans spent more than an hour in a cell in Tonbridge where his handcuffs were removed, leaving painful marks on his wrists. He later said he waited another 90 minutes for the interview, but was not allowed to go to the toilet or be offered a drink. ‘One of my best friends is a traveler,’ he said. ‘I have nothing against travellers. The only problem I had was the way the police handled this incident by threatening to arrest people. “I was disgusted.”

His ordeal, which began shortly after 11am, ended with him being released at 2pm despite further investigation, but no further action is expected.

Kent Police declined to comment on Mr Evans’ arrest. However, Superintendent Elena Hall said she ‘recognized the strength of feeling in the Sundridge community’ and stressed in the safest way that ‘the priority is to help unblock the road’. ‘To set the record straight,’ he said, ‘this was not to facilitate access for HGVs,’ adding: ‘Issues of private land ownership and access are a civil matter and not something over which the police have jurisdiction.’

Sundridge wasn’t the only village targeted on Easter. So are Alfold, Surrey and Flamstead, Hertfordshire. Three different locations but the same guerrilla tactics on land are believed to have been purchased in advance by the travelers. In Alfold, where house prices average £800,000, a convoy of 15 caravans set out at 16.15 on Thursday last week, while Waverley Borough Council officials were off for the bank holiday weekend.

Within hours, an area where horses had been grazing was covered with hard asphalt, pipelines, two septic tanks and fencing. ‘It was a multifaceted and ruthlessly planned incident,’ said a resident who lives in one of the houses near the site.

The council took swift action. In the statement, it was said that ‘Stop notifications were made on Thursday and again on Friday.’ ‘However these do not appear to have been complied with… the council is exploring all enforcement options.’

In Flamstead – at exactly the same time – 12 diggers and bulldozers, followed by 12 caravans, moved onto a four-acre site.

Residents had suspected an ‘invasion’ of people controlling the area and blocking entrances and exits to the land with farm vehicles, fences and even dug ditches; but this did nothing. They said their resistance was met with violent threats and harassment. ‘This is a disgrace,’ said a local who was there.

On Easter Sunday, Dacorum District Council served an urgent court order on site prohibiting further work from taking place. But no one in Flamstead, Alfold or Sundridge has any real hope that life will return to normal.

For example, why did Mr Connors spend £167,000 on a field in Kent if he thought he would be evicted? Sevenoaks District Council said enforcement action ‘will be proportionate to any breaches, taking into account government guidance and legislation as well as local planning policies’.

Translation: the law is on the travelers’ side.

Mr Connors is likely to be granted retrospective planning permission because the lack of authorized travel areas in the Sevenoaks area means he and his family will be allowed to stay on human rights grounds, namely ‘respect for private and family life’.

‘I can understand how people feel,’ Mr Connors says. ‘They think more caravans will come, but there aren’t.’

Maybe. But the reality is that travelers choosing a nomadic lifestyle in Britain in 2026 appear to be prioritized over everyone else, leading to crime and anti-social behavior in many cases.

As one elderly woman in Sundridge put it: ‘The law is complete nonsense and needs to be changed immediately.’

Additional reporting: Isaac Crowson and Tim Stewart