A DECISION by a court to allow travellers to stay on a piece of land without planning consent could have disastrous consequences for the whole country, according to an MP.

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff has stepped in to a battle between a group of travellers in Wyre Piddle and Wychavon District Council.

Following a hearing at Worcester County Court last month, the group was granted permission to move four more caravans on to the site near Duffledown Farm in the village.

They were also told they were allowed to lay down hard-standing and install toilet facilities with an underground tank.

This was despite being refused permission by Wychavon District Council to make the site permanent just weeks before.

Now Mr Luff has stepped in to try to resolve the situation. He has written to Planning Minister Keith Hill in a bid to overturn the court's ruling.

"If the word goes out that anyone can establish a caravan site wherever they choose - which is the implication of the judgements issued so far - the Government's policies on planning and on the travelling community will be left in tatters," said Mr Luff.

"This encampment has been established in direct contradiction of planning law. Wychavon District Council has acted speedily and properly - but it has been undermined by the courts."

The group moved on to the site, owned by another traveller, at the end of September, in defiance of an injunction taken out by Wychavon District Council.

Attempts to reinstate the order failed but the judge at the time prohibited building or electrical work or additional families moving on.

This has now been changed.

"The irony is that Wychavon has always fulfilled its legal and moral responsibilities to the travelling community - it achieved designation under the old Caravan Sites Act because it had provided sufficient pitches, one of a small number of councils to do so," added Mr Luff.

"I hope Keith Hill - who actually approved the construction of the Wyre Piddle by-pass when he was a Transport Minister - will recognise the seriousness of the situation and help us in whatever way he can.

"Failure to act will have major implications for other sites, both in Wychavon and across the country."