VIDEO: Violence at UK traveler site eviction
A resident protests during the eviction of the Dale Farm traveler site in Essex, south-east England.
Police dressed in riot gear and carrying sledgehammers forced their way through a fence around the site at 7 AM local time, the Associated Press reports.
They were met with fierce resistance by the 86 Irish traveler families that have been living on the camp at Dale Farm since 2001.
Residents and their supporters threw stones, chained themselves to barricades and set fire to at least one caravan, according to police. So far at least two people have been Tasered and one arrested.
This video from the Telegraph shows angry demonstrators threatening to burn the Houses of Parliament in protest:
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The evictions come after the travelers lost a final legal appeal last week. The local council in charge of the land says the travelers do not have planning permission to camp on the site, a former scrap yard next to a legal traveler site.
Basildon council leader Tony Ball described the violence as "pre-meditated" and "utterly disgraceful", reports the BBC.
He claims the travelers were offered alternative accommodation, which they turned down.
The eviction is estimated to have cost between £18 million and £20.13 million, according to the Guardian.
Find the Telegraph's live blog of the eviction here.
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