Court injunction bans family from developing land at Haddon Road in Stamford or using it for caravans

A court injunction is now in place preventing a gypsy family from carrying out further development on a plot of land they own.

Jamie Smith, who lives at the site in Stamford with his wife and three children, is also prohibited from using the plot for caravans.

The green space on Haddon Road was one of 31 pockets of land sold off to individual buyers by developer Jelson Homes.

A spokesman for South Kesteven District Council said: “An injunction is in place to prevent the area of land being developed or used by caravans or in any other way.

“This will continue until the next hearing, when the parties are back in court. The hearing will be on the next available court date after September 30, 2020.”

Mr Smith was approached for a comment but chose to make none.

Neighbours were up in arms last month after he built a fence around the plot, surfaced it and moved a caravan inside.

They say there should be no development of green spaces on housing estates that are already completed.

However, Mr Smith, 30, previously claimed he had done nothing wrong and was simply trying to create a family home for him, his wife and their children.

He said last month: “It’s not going to be a travellers’ site, despite what people are saying. It’s just for me, my wife and my kids. It’s a family home.

“You shouldn’t need planning permission to put stones and a fence on your own property. If people here are that worried about caravans then I will be more than happy to go down the legal route to build some kind of home.”

He also claimed he had been “victimised” and shared photos of his caravan which had been vandalised.

The council had previously stated the work at the site was unauthorised and was seeking an injunction after a 'stop notice' had been ignored.