A group of travellers who bulldozed over a 'beautiful' wildlife spot in an alleged Bank Holiday land grab have applied for retrospective planning permission – three months later. 

Residents of quaint Willows Green in Essex watched in horror as the travellers concreted over a field only hours after the local council closed on May 1.

Using lights and diggers, an army of workers and around 30 vehicles began turning over grass ready for hardcore and asphalt.

There was no council response until more than four days later despite a Daily Mail article earlier warning that travellers were plotting a land grab beforehand. 

A High Court injunction was eventually issued preventing any further work at the site following an intervention from Uttlesford District Council. 

Now, however, the travellers are seeking retrospective planning permission to put 12 mobile homes down on the field – once a haven for wildlife – near Felsted. 

The request covers mobile homes, touring caravans, day rooms, access roads, utility infrastructure and landscaping.

But fuming residents, some of whom claim to have been threatened by the travellers, have accused the group of 'taking advantage of bank holidays' when they are unlikely to face intervention from council members. 

One resident, who preferred not to be named, said: 'Why should we have to deal with all this upset and then find out they do know they need planning because they put a retrospective application through?'

Sir James Cleverly, Tory MP for nearby Braintree, said of the application: 'The cynical, "build now, apply later" attitude should never work.

'Uttlesford District Council say this changes nothing on enforcing the injunction in place. Good.' 

The Conservatives have vowed to stop retrospective planning permission being granted to any traveller site that has been built without authorisation. 

The case in Willows Green is just one example of a wider trend which sees travellers carry out land grabs while council enforcement teams are at home. 

They then apply for retrospective planning permission in a bid to make them permanent.

Lawyers acting for travellers often argue they have no choice but to exploit planning laws because 90 per cent of traveller site planning applications are refused. By contrast, about 40 per cent or more of those made retrospectively are approved.

Another local, Tracy Williams, said: 'You see this happen in other locations and you think, "I'd hate for that to happen here". And lo and behold, out of nowhere, it's happening. 

'[Residents have] been threatened and are scared to come out their homes. This is not acceptable.' 

Ms Williams described Willows Green as an area boasting a 'beautiful countryside', including dog-walking routes, bridleways and quaint, village pubs. 

She added: 'We feel we've been let down by the people who should be helping and supporting us. 

'We pay our council taxes and we submit our planning in the right way. Doing nothing is not helpful – we should be proactive not reactive. 

'There are loopholes in the law that allows the travelling community to do this. They're entitled to homes and spaces and they deserve to be treated with respect. But they need to do it in the same way back to us.'

Land Registry records showed that a man called Edward Myles Anthony Connors paid £150,000 for the patch of land on June 17, 2025.  

The address he used to register the land was a pitch at the Kents Field traveller site in Banstead, Surrey – which was developed without planning permission from 1995 by the wider Connors family.

After a series of legal appeals, the site was given planning permission for three mobile homes and touring caravans.

Uttlesford District Council and Essex Police were approached for comment.