Intentional trespass will become a criminal offence – giving police instant new powers to arrest people and seize vehicles
A new law will ban travellers from setting up camp on private land – and those who break the law will be fined up to £2,500 and jailed for up to three months, according to reports.
The Telegraph says the change in the law will be announced next week, allowing police to seize vehicles and arrest people who refuse to move on when told to do so.
The change would make intentional trespass a criminal offence.
Landowners currently face court battles that can take days or weeks before getting an order allowing them to remove travellers from their sites because trespass is currently a civil offence.
But the change in the law would mean encampments could be moved immediately – either by agreement or by seizure and arrest.
A Home Office source told The Telegraph: “These camps cause distress and disruption for millions of people right across the country so it’s right we are giving the police the powers they need to bring this to an end.”
Police will also be able to prosecute travellers who return to any site they have been evicted from within 12 months.
Action will be possible for as few as two vans – where the rule is currently six.
A spokesperson from Friends, Families and Travellers told The Telegraph: “The Home Secretary is working to create laws to imprison and fine families living on roadside camps for the “crime” of having nowhere else to go.”
They added: “Everybody needs a place to live.”
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