BAILIFFS ARE PREPARING to enter the Dale Farm site this morning as protests continue against the planned eviction of Travellers from the illegal site.

Twenty-three people were arrested yesterday as police worked to clear protesters. A 40-foot scaffolding tower at the site entrance needs to be taken down before bailiffs can carry out the eviction, and six people chained to barricades will have to be removed, according to the BBC.

Conflict

The conflict over Dale Farm has simmered since 2001, when Travellers bought and settled on a former scrap yard next to a legal Travellers’ site in the area. A legal battle began soon after, and dragged on for years until the Travellers lost a final appeal last week.

The local authority says it’s a simple planning issue — the 86 families lack permission to pitch homes on the land. The Travellers call it ethnic cleansing.

“I’ve been through a lot of evictions, but I’ve never seen anything like this … they have come in and started a riot that we never wanted,” said resident Kathleen McCarthy, who accused police of roughing up Travellers at the site, injuring three women. “We are being dragged out of the only homes we have in this world.”

Lily Hayes, who identified herself as a human rights observer to the Associated Press, also accused the police of using unnecessary force.

The ambulance service said one woman was taken to a hospital with minor back injuries. Five other people were treated for smoke inhalation, breathing difficulties and a nosebleed.

Authorities said the violence was coming not from residents but from their supporters — anarchists, environmentalists and anti-capitalists who came to the site from across Europe.

Additional reporting by the AP