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| Row over camp near Jowell's home | Row over camp near Jowell's home |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A council is to decide what to do about a Gypsy encampment in Warwickshire 200 yards from the country house of Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell. | |
| About 100 English Romany Gypsies arrived at the site on Friday. | About 100 English Romany Gypsies arrived at the site on Friday. |
| They set up water and electricity supplies before erecting fences and putting down paving for 32 caravans close to Shipston-on-Stour. | They set up water and electricity supplies before erecting fences and putting down paving for 32 caravans close to Shipston-on-Stour. |
| Legal officers at Warwickshire County Council were due to meet on Tuesday to consider the issue. | Legal officers at Warwickshire County Council were due to meet on Tuesday to consider the issue. |
| We cannot keep on being pushed from pillar to post Zack Follows | We cannot keep on being pushed from pillar to post Zack Follows |
| Tory councillor Chris Saint, from the council, believes the Gypsies used the four-day public holiday to move onto the field, which they bought more than a year ago, to avoid opposition from the local authority. | Tory councillor Chris Saint, from the council, believes the Gypsies used the four-day public holiday to move onto the field, which they bought more than a year ago, to avoid opposition from the local authority. |
| On Monday Mr Saint, who represents the area, said: "We view it with alarm because I have no information about a planning application even being lodged, let alone granted, and I would be the first to know." | On Monday Mr Saint, who represents the area, said: "We view it with alarm because I have no information about a planning application even being lodged, let alone granted, and I would be the first to know." |
| Asked whether he thought the Gypsies targeted the bank holiday weekend as no-one would be working at the council's offices, Mr Saint said: "We don't know that for certain. | Asked whether he thought the Gypsies targeted the bank holiday weekend as no-one would be working at the council's offices, Mr Saint said: "We don't know that for certain. |
| "But the speculation is that they have done this because there is a four-day window when officialdom is unlikely to get to them." | "But the speculation is that they have done this because there is a four-day window when officialdom is unlikely to get to them." |
| 'Legitimate businesses' | 'Legitimate businesses' |
| Zack Follows, 31, a father of four who has moved on to the site, said 16 plots have been sold for about £20,000 each. | Zack Follows, 31, a father of four who has moved on to the site, said 16 plots have been sold for about £20,000 each. |
| Mr Follows said: "The council is supposed to be supplying sites for the Gypsy community but no sites are being provided and there is nowhere for the community to go. | |
| "We have got piles of papers from how many times we have been refused sites. | "We have got piles of papers from how many times we have been refused sites. |
| "At the end of the day, we cannot keep on being pushed from pillar to post. | "At the end of the day, we cannot keep on being pushed from pillar to post. |
| "One hundred percent of the people here are taxpayers who have legitimate businesses." | "One hundred percent of the people here are taxpayers who have legitimate businesses." |