Dale Farm travellers apply for English Heritage protection status... for scaffolding

Residents of the UK's largest illegal travellers' site have applied to English Heritage to gain official protection status for the scaffolding gateway at the entrance to the site.

The gateway at Dale Farm near Basildon, Essex, adorned with posters and banners, has become an "emblem of the struggle for travellers' rights", according to the applicants.

The structure has been in place at the former scrapyard for five years and acts as part of the defence against bailiffs, a Dale Farm Solidarity spokesman said.

Resident Kathleen McCarthy said: "We're here to fight for our rights to a normal family life, for our children to get an education and for us to have security for our homes.

"The tower is all that stands between ourselves and the bailiffs. As long as it remains standing, we know that there are people outside our community who still care about our rights."

The English Heritage website says that it designates the status to "protect and celebrate England's historic buildings, monuments, parks, gardens, battlefields and wreck sites, by highlighting their special interest in a national context."

The clearance of Dale Farm was due to begin last week but an injunction preventing bailiffs moving in is currently in place while legal appeals are heard at the High Court.

The planned clearance follows a decade-long row over 51 unauthorised pitches on the six-acre travellers' site.