A last-ditch bid to halt the clearance of the UK’s largest illegal Travellers’ site has been rejected by an appeal court judge.
The clearance of Dale Farm, near Basildon in Essex, is due to begin on Monday.
Today a judge refused one elderly resident, Mary Flynn, permission to challenge a recent High Court ruling denying the Travellers a temporary injunction to stop their removal.
A spokesman for the Judicial Office said: “An application by Mrs Mary Flynn for permission to appeal Mr Justice Kenneth Parker’s decision of 31 August has been refused on the papers.”
The majority of the Travellers, most of whom are Irish, have vowed to stay put.
Up to 400 people are thought to live on the 51 unauthorised plots and Travellers insist many will remain.
Basildon Council leader Tony Ball said the authority believed 12 or 13 families had left the site voluntary this week.
One chalet and eight caravans have been seen leaving and another chalet was being removed this afternoon. Travellers say the chalets are being sold to buy caravans.
Richard Sheridan, chairman of the Dale Farm Housing Association, said: “Most of the families are determined to stay - they have nowhere else to go.”
One resident, Elbi (28), said her three-year-old nephew had been having nightmares about the eviction.
“We are going to be homeless. We have nowhere to go, no land, nothing,” she said. “The children understand what is happening and they are all terrified and are waking up in the night thinking a bailiff is about to arrive.
“But we have no choice but to stay. This is our home and, if we are evicted on Monday, I don’t know where we’ll go.”
One supporter, who gave her name only as Marina, said: “We are trying to move children and vulnerable people off the site but there is only so much we can do when people have nowhere to go.
“I spoke to one elderly woman last night who does not have a roadworthy caravan and she was in tears worrying about the future.”
Mr Ball insisted that provision would be made for those left homeless. “Some have already been offered accommodation and those who are removed from the site on Monday will be treated as emergency homeless cases.”