A HIGH Court injunction has been served on a group of travellers illegally occupying a site adjacent to a village Conservation Area .The application to the court, by Mid Suffolk District Council, came five months after a number of caravans were moved on to land beside Walsham Road, Wattisfield.

A HIGH Court injunction has been served on a group of travellers illegally occupying a site adjacent to a village Conservation Area .

The application to the court, by Mid Suffolk District Council, came five months after a number of caravans were moved on to land beside Walsham Road, Wattisfield.

It is the latest episode in a planning saga dating back several years.

The injunction, served on Tuesday, requires the removal of the caravans and a mobile home.

A new planning application for the use of the site has now been received but the district council said that it would not affect the need for compliance with the injunction.

Phillip Isbell, the district council's principal planning officer said: “This site has a lengthy planning history throughout which the council has resisted the use of the land for the stationing of gypsy caravans.

“The land is adjacent to the Wattisfield Conservation Area and the council has consistently defended the character and appearance of that Conservation Area.”

The district council said a senior housing officer had been actively engaging with the family to help them resolve their housing needs and was trying to persuade them to move to another site in Swaffham, Norfolk.