Residents of an idyllic Essex hamlet dating back to the Bronze Age where travellers constructed an unauthorised site over the Bank Holiday have warned they are planning a second encampment.
Still reeling from the blow of a field which is home to rare wildlife being 'concreted over and colonised' despite advance warnings to the local council, they are now calling on officials to prevent any new development.
It also emerged that travellers are using a new tactic to frustrate attempts to move them on from unauthorised sites by setting them up on land they already own so the police cannot intervene.
A source exclusively told the Mail on Sunday that 'two traveller cousins' had bought the land in Willows Green near Felsted which travellers descended on last weekend after a farmer sold it last year.
They said: 'They know that police can only clear a site if it is on public land or if they are called in by the landowner so then it is up the local council to take civil action and then it depends on how tough that council is.'
One resident called the setting up of the camp 'one of the fastest and most efficient' operations she had ever seen, with travellers ripping out ancient hedgerows to access the site.
Within hours a convoy of diggers, lorries and low loaders had completely concreted over the field which locals say was an 'irreplaceable wildlife haven and home to protected species like great crested newts'.
Over the next few days travellers started constructing 12 pitches, moved in static caravans and erected large wooden gates.
A traveller site appeared over the last bank holiday weekend in the village of Willows Green, Essex
Resident Tracy Williams previously said those already living in Willows Green had been 'threatened' and were scared to leave their homes following the camp's appearance
Meanwhile this week, Uttlesford District Council, which residents say had failed to heed warnings that an unauthorised development was planned, belatedly took out an injunction against the travellers which they are now appealing.
The council was also heavily criticised for not even sending an official to speak to more than 700 concerned locals at a parish council meeting. One resident said they had shown 'complete and utter contempt for locals'.
The council had claimed it was unable to do anything to prevent the development but councils including Basildon in Essex have previously successfully invoked legislation to stop such plans in their tracks.
Now local residents in nearby Great Leighs have alerted Uttlesford to a second field which they fear travellers are planning to move into at the end of the month.
They say a traveller, who has been convicted of hare coursing and banned from five counties, bought the field from the local farmer last summer after planning was repeatedly turned down at the site.
And they say permission granted to run a water supply to the field, allegedly for an animal trough, is 'just cover for installing utilities ahead of an unauthorised development'.
In a letter seen by the Mail on Sunday, residents have now called on Uttlesford to take immediate legal action 'to learn from previous mistakes at Willows Green' and to save the field before it is 'irreversibly altered'.
They say the council failed to respond to the letter but when asked for an acknowledgment said they were 'considering their options around any further appropriate actions'.
Willows Green resident Tracy Williams, 42, previously said some neighbours had been 'threatened' by the travellers and were now scared to leave their homes.
She said: 'You see this happen in other locations and you think: "I'd hate for that to happen here" - and lo and behold, out of nowhere, it's happening.
'I've seen some of my neighbours in tears. Some have had altercations already with some of the travelling community.
'They've been threatened and are scared to come out their homes. This is not acceptable.'
The camp appeared on the edge of the village, among lush fields in the Essex countryside
A spokesman for the council did not respond to a request for comment on any plans to stop a second encampment but said it 'understood the concern' the traveller site at Willows Green had caused.
They said: 'The council has served a temporary injunction on the site. This restricts further development and any residential occupation of the land while the council progresses with ongoing planning enforcement investigations.
'A hearing is scheduled to take place in the High Court next week where the injunction will be reviewed. As legal proceedings are ongoing, we will not be issuing further comment at this time.'
An Essex Police spokesman said: 'We're aware of the current situation in Willows Green and have reached out to partners, including Uttlesford District Council and Felsted Parish Council.
'We've also spoken personally with nearby residents and understand their frustrations. As this is currently a planning matter, it does sit with the local planning authority.'