The desperate measure being taken to avoid having Travellers as neighbours

It's a desperate measure to avoid living next to Travellers - but Sky News has learned of at least one community which clubbed together to buy land, fearing unwelcome neighbours were about to move in.

And it didn't come cheap. One resident - who chipped in £1,000 to the fund - told us their community raised more than £100,000 to purchase a field which could house dozens of Traveller caravans.

"It did feel like extortion," they told us. "But I was protecting our life and our investment.

"I was worried the value of our property might be affected if there was a Traveller site a few hundred yards up the road. It was just us buying the land in order for the village to stay the same and not be developed in a way we didn't want it to be.

"I did it for the safety and atmosphere in the village. I worried that the Travellers might bring problems and I'd worry if the kids are out walking the dog or going for a run they might run into some problem."

The person we spoke to admitted they were prejudging the Travellers, but added: ''They have a reputation - some of which I'm sure isn't true - and some is. I think we were dealing with a worst-case scenario, but that was a worst-case scenario most people in the village didn't want to entertain, so we took the matter into our own hands."

The resident told us villagers bought the land off a lawyer - after he made a planning application for a structure which looked like it would pave the way for a Traveller site.

The person who contributed £1,000 to the purchase fund asked not to be named - nor did they want to identify where in the country they live.

But they accepted buying the land could encourage Travellers to think it's a way to make money.

They told us: "If you can think of a better solution then we'd have done that. It was literally the last thing we wanted to do. But we didn't feel confident that we'd necessarily get the support from the authorities that you'd expect to protect villages like ours."

'It shows the stereotype'

John Reilly, founder of the Gypsy Traveller League, told us he believes residents buying land to avoid living next to Travellers "proves" discrimination.

He said: ''It's disgusting. We're trying to make homes and if land does come for sale that the residents are thinking straight away 'we need to purchase it in case gypsies get in'. You would not do that and turn around and say 'I don't want gay people to live here so all of us come together and buy the house'.

"It shows the stereotype - the stigma is still attached to our name. If you have a gypsy family living in your area they're not going to cause issues on their own doorstep when they live there. And if there are any issues they'll be the first ones to go and support you.

''Don't you think we're isolated enough? We want to try and move into society and work alongside local residents to build a better future for all of our kids."

Britain is facing a wave of new Traveller encampments, with Travellers buying land then moving on to it without planning permission.

The Travellers say there's a desperate shortage of official sites for them and they have nowhere else to go.

Many we've spoken to say Travellers want to put down roots so they can access healthcare and education for their children more easily.

Sky News is aware of other communities discussing the idea of buying land or crowdfunding to launch legal challenges to tackle the issue of illegal Traveller encampments.

Read more:
Legal challenges over Traveller sites
Travellers 'face fight for their way of life'

'It becomes extortion'

In Fifield in Berkshire - where villagers and Travellers are embroiled in a row over claims the Travellers are tapping into the water supply - we spoke to people in the village hall.

One resident, called Adam, told us: "I've heard of ideas of crowdfunding different initiatives. I have heard talk of funding to buy land to try and ring-fence it, which I think is not a fantastic idea because it just becomes extortion."

The friction sparked by Travellers moving on to sites without planning permission has led one landowner to tell us he regrets selling his four-and-a-half-acre site in Buckinghamshire.

Michael Cook said: "I was approached a couple of times by a company to buy the land. I sold it to them safe in the knowledge that the land was in a conservation area - it has a covenant on it precluding any activity other than farming and horticulture.

"I think that's the problem with land in this country. You often don't know who you're selling it to."

Mr Cook said he now regrets selling the land - which was then sold on to Travellers who moved on to the site without planning permission. The Travellers say they had no idea the land was protected.

He added: ''I personally haven't got a problem with Travellers. It's the way that what's happened here has transpired - one day a load of lorries appear and there's rubble being dumped and diggers and there's no permission for that as we've seen elsewhere in the country.

"I think I do regret selling it. I think it's caused a lot of problems - caused a lot of stress. Nobody that lives around here wants to see anything other than farming and horticulture on a piece of land like this."

(c) Sky News 2026: The desperate measure being taken to avoid having Travellers as neighbours