Residents in the sleepy town of Sawbridgeworth were looking forward to enjoying a relaxing August bank holiday weekend.

Many in the pristine commuter town in Hertfordshire, best known for being the site of David and Victoria Beckham's former £11.5million country estate, had planned walks along the River Stort and trips to many of its independent village pubs and cafes.

But instead they were forced to come together in their hundreds, camping overnight on the side of a road, in an attempt to defend their town from a brazen land grab by dozens of travellers hoping to catch the council and courts by surprise.

Travellers descended on a large patch of greenery, home to muntjac deer and acting as a floodplain for part of the town on Saturday morning, digging through the wildlife as they tried to set up camp in the area.

But within 48 hours their vans and diggers were driven out amid jubilant scenes from protesters after a High Court injunction was imposed.

'They just came in and mowed it all down,' one resident told the Daily Mail. 'Everyone was furious that they thought they could just up and do what they like. But the community has fought back.

'They were very rude when we gathered outside. They were laughing and jeering at us. One mocked me and said "You're not going to win. We're not going to leave."'

Travellers have defied councils across the country to bulldoze greenbelt land and set up sites.

Another group moved on to a privately owned site in nearby Rochford, Essex, on Friday and soon started digging up turf without planning permission.

Land grabs often take place on bank holidays because travellers are aware council enforcement teams are away from work. They then apply for retrospective planning permission once construction has already been carried out.

The first signs in Sawbridgeworth came on Friday evening when diggers began arriving on the greenland.

A local councillor who lives on the road, where houses routinely sell for £1million, quickly alerted the local authority.

Angus Parsad-Wyatt, the Conservative mayor of Sawbridgeworth, told the Daily Mail: 'We were aware from other sites that there is a pattern [of land grabs] on bank holidays.

'Partly because the people doing it think the council officers and courts will be closed so they can occupy the land and develop it before they get evicted.'

At around 10am on Saturday, around 50 workmen in a convoy of lorries streamed into the grassland – which has no planning permission for development – and used heavy machinery including diggers to rapidly flatten the area, remove the grass, fell trees and erect fences.

The former grassland borders a river and has acted as a floodplain for centuries. Residents are now scared the road will be increasingly vulnerable to flooding.

'The first thing they did was put in new drainage pipes so they didn't get flooded,' said one local. 'They had clearly studied the area.'

Within minutes of the illegal work beginning, residents used WhatsApp and Facebook forums to spread the word. Others said they were alerted by neighbours knocking on their door as the town came together to put a stop to the construction.

By 10.45am the council served a Temporary Stop Notice to the workmen and made an urgent application to the High Court for an injunction.

The council worked to find an out-of-hours judge on Saturday afternoon who issued the injunction and council officers immediately returned to the site and put up notices, telling the travellers to leave. But they were ignored and work continued.

Locals soon began gathering outside the development and were goaded by some of the workmen. One man, who appears to be the site manager and is said to be sleeping in a tent outside the grass since being evicted, began goading people, filming distraught locals and laughing while making obscene gestures at them.

'It was diabolical,' said one protester. 'They just did what they wanted and there seemed to be no way to object to it.'

On Sunday construction continued at pace with workers erecting gates and fences in an attempt to secure the area.

But the crowd of frustrated locals rapidly grew, with around 500 gathering by the afternoon.

Dozens of police were in attendance but the road remained open – meaning deliveries and workmen continued to arrive.

With workers refusing to leave, hundreds of residents decided to camp out overnight and police eventually sealed the road shut.

One resident of 20 years, who kept watch in five-hour shifts overnight, said they created a 'great atmosphere' and displayed 'real community spirit' in seeing off the travellers.

He said up to 80 protesters were still there by 5am on Monday.

'There were people coming along with gazebos and chairs and luckily it was a nice evening so there was shelter from the rain. 

'The lady who lives next door was making teas and coffees and letting people use her toilet. A few people brought out their garden furniture and umbrellas and we were all singing.'

With workers breaching the previous injunction, the council worked throughout the night to secure an amended High Court injunction which gave police authority to arrest anyone carrying out work.

It also blocked any further development on land and anyone from bringing caravans on site or occupying the plot.

The updated injunction, which lasts until September 15 when a court hearing takes place, was granted and served at around 12.30am on Monday.

On Monday morning at 7am travellers were still working on the site, but police officers entered by 9am and evicted around 20 people.

Locals cheered and clapped as the workmen were removed and dozens have remained outside the development since, keeping an eye out if they return. A sign reading 'Thank you everyone' has been placed on the neighbouring house.

A large police presence remained on Tuesday afternoon with at least four patrol cars at the site while machinery was being seized.  

As did a lone workman believed to be sleeping in a tent just outside the former grassland.

Mr Parsad-Wyatt said: 'We've got to where we are because East Hertfordshire has worked incredibly fast with the police, town council and crucially the community.

'If not for them here, the site may well have been much larger with more tarmacking done. There's a huge amount of damage already done and it would have been even worse.'

Despite pride at fighting off the workers, many residents remain devastated by the damage caused.

Long grass has been replaced by rubble and many fear it will expose the area to flooding.

One woman in her 50s who has lived in the area all her life told the Daily Mail she felt 'powerless' and 'devastated'.

She said: 'I believe they are travellers building a traveller site. Some people don't want them anywhere, and I think they should go through all the steps that everyone else has to when it comes to planning and building.'

She said: 'The reserve has been around for as long as life and within a day it was destroyed. It's a total destruction of nature, it's absolutely disgusting.

'There's a lady who lives right across the road from it and she's in tears. We're completely appalled by the destruction; it's devastating to be so powerless in the situation.

'It's the bank holiday and no one has the chance to stop it before it's too late, so they've got four days to destroy habitats'.

Another resident said: 'Many, many residents are distraught, dismayed and feel very let down by the laws relating to this kind of destruction of wildlife habitats beside a lovely picturesque lock in a pretty historic small town.'

Josh Dean, Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford, said he was 'appalled by the flagrant disregard for the rules and the damage that has been done to our environment'.

He joined campaigners and said in a statement posted on his Facebook page: 'The law needs to change to ensure that local authorities have the powers they need to bring this kind of activity to a swift end. 

'I will raise this with the Government and in Parliament, and I will work with our community to ensure your voice is heard.'

Hertfordshire Constabulary said officers entered the site on Monday morning and 'all those who had unauthorised access, left the site peacefully'.

A spokesman for the force said: 'This was following an amended High Court injunction, which was granted and served this morning. 

'The High Court injunction meant that anyone found carrying out activities prohibited by the injunction – including bringing caravans on site and occupying the land for carrying out development – could be arrested by the police. No arrests were necessary.'