Spokesman at Twin Oaks caravan park Patrick Egan says the council has warned that Constant will take all the caravans and mobile homes and lock them in a pound. "They want to take our homes away," he said, "and put us in a hostel for the homeless."

He is concerned that his mother, who is critically ill and in a wheelchair, will not survive such a traumatic ordeal. Her doctors says she should not be moved.

The eviction at Summerwood Lane, Ridge, near London's M25 motorway, which could take place tomorrow (2 Nov) is only one of dozens now pending. In the past l8 months, more than 150 plots on private caravan parks owned by Romanies in the UK have been destroyed in "direct action" operations.

Today a large-scale eviction at Smithy Fen, near Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, was only called off because a judge granted the go-ahead for a judicial review. South Cambridgeshire council is bent on destroying 22 plots there because they lack planning consent.

Patrick McCarthy owns one of more than 30 plots which have been licensed. But because his land would have to be crossed to reach the so-called "illegal" plots, the council are taking action in the high court to revoke his licence.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Bedfordshire, the model Romani-owned Woodside caravan park is again under threat. In 2002 Mid-Beds council hired Constant to plough up many of the 50 plots here, leaving the last residents surrounded by mud and broken paths.

Unless an appeal to the House of Lords is allowed, an eviction operation could be mounted shortly. Some l5 plots would be "cleared" and families thrown back on the road.

Cliff Codona, chairman of the National Travellers Action Group, who attended the recent VII World Romani Congress in Italy, says the council have already spent 1.5 million Euro trying to get rid of him.

"I've been monitoring all the recent evictions," said Codona. "Hundreds more families face the same fate. This is now ethnic-cleansing on a big scale."

He believes that many local councils are determined to get rid of Gypsies ahead of any reforms that the Government may bring in. A review of Government policy is due to be published soon.

Official figures show that the number of council-run caravn sites has dropped from 327 to 313 since l997. At the same time, the number of Traveller caravans in England alone has risen from l2,796 to l4,362.

In response, the NTAG and other front-line groups, including the National Association of Gypsy Women, have formed a human rights monitoring group to be present at and report on evictions. It has the support of the Trans-European Roma Federation.

Already, written evidence and video film from the eviction at Meadowlands caravan park, in Essex, earlier this year, has been submitted to the Commission for Racial Equality and COHRE, the Geneva-based anti-eviction NGO.

Kathy Buckland, of the NAGW, whose mobile home was burned during the eviction, is preparing to claim damages against Chelmsford Borough Council and Constant. Police officers have questioned Constant employees over the burning, which they believe was an act of arson.

In six months time, a virtual village built at Dale Farm, near Basildon, in Essex., will come under threat of destruction. Growing up over the past 30 years from a small caravan park, the village now has some 1,000 residents, housed in bungalows, mobile-homes and caravans.

Basildon council has issued more than 50 enforcement notices against individial land plots. Suspended last year, these notices are due to be executed on 13 May next year. At stake is a collective investment by Romanies and Travellers of more than 8 million Euro. A planning inspector has already warned that any attempt to evict residents from Dale Farm could lead to a serious civil disturbance.

HELP STOP EVICTIONS by emailing protest to:
democratic.services@hertsmere.gov.uk
copy to:
psdpm@odpm.gov.uk
bob.last@fco.gov.uk