The number of unauthorised Gypsy and traveller sites is on the rise, with developments often carried out over Bank Holiday weekends.
Since April, sites in Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and elsewhere have been transformed, prompting legal battles and local dismay.
In January, the number of unauthorised traveller caravans – those without planning permission – across England stood at 4,950, a 73% increase on January 2020’s figure of 2,860.
The summer count also shows a rise, of 44% between July 2019 and July 2025, from 3,113 to 4,471.
A senior councillor in one affected area warns there has been a “loss of control” of the planning system, while villagers living near one site likened its rapid construction to a “military operation”.
The government says unauthorised development is “totally unacceptable” and that councils have “strong powers” to tackle it.
But Cliff Codona, who founded and chairs the National Travellers’ Action Group, says the planning system is like a “big dagger in their back” for travellers, leaving them no option but to “break the law”.
So what do travellers say is driving some to act unlawfully, and what do others think?