Travellers lose bid for new site

Travellers evicted from the UK’s largest illegal settlement have lost their bid for permission to live on a new site.

Former Dale Farm residents launched an appeal against Basildon Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for 12 pitches on alternative land at nearby Laindon.

But the Department for Communities and Local Government yesterday accepted a planning inspector’s recommendation to reject the appeal, saying it would result in the loss of open land and be out of keeping with the surrounding area.