Dale Farm protestors storm Eland House in bid to 'evict' Eric Pickles

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Central Government and also in Communities

Protestors marking the first anniversary of the evictions from the Dale Farm traveller site today tried to storm Eland House, home of the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The protestors' stated aim was to "evict" the department's secretary, Eric Pickles.

On the Traveller Solidarity Network's (TNS) website, it was claimed that 250 activists gathered at the building.

The TNS wrote: "Protesters hold the Department for Communities and Local Government responsible for ‘leading the attack on Traveller rights’ by increasing eviction powers and slashing regional targets for site provision. The Department for Communities and Local Government also contributed £1.2 million in funding to the Dale Farm eviction."

According to reports, scuffles broke out between protestors and the police.

In response to the protests, a DCLG spokesman said: "The public want to see fair play - with planning rules being upheld and action being taken against those who try to cheat the system.

"The Government has already changed the law to tackle abuses of the planning system, and we propose to strengthen the law further to allow councils to stop unauthorised sites as soon as they happen, to prevent future drawn-out cases like Dale Farm.

"The Government is also providing £60 million of funding to help support authorised pitches for travellers, supporting law-abiding citizens."