TRAVELLERS who pitched up illegally say they just want somewhere to pay rent and taxes and a local school for their children.

Seven caravans pitched on Beacon Field in Langdon Hills, near to Westley Heights Country Park,on Wednesday afternoon.

The group consists of ten children and 14 adults, all part of one family.

Martin Maughan, 54, said he had been in contact with Basildon Council and claimed he was told a pitch would be available.

Basildon Council denies this.

Martin said: “We are happy to pay rent, we are happy to do it all, we want to be part of the community. The kids are out here now, not going to school. If there was a permanent traveller site we could pay our rent, taxes and register our kids to go to school.

“People can’t live for free, we know that and we don’t want to do that.

“If they had a transit site, like lots of places do up north, we could pay to stay, or if they had a permanent traveller site we would happily live there.”

The family own a house in Ilford but are keen to live in the caravans to teach children “the dying traditions of travellers”.

Martin added: “We are not hassling people, we do not flytip. All our rubbish is in bin bags in the back of one of the vans. It gives us a bad name, you see all these travellers causing trouble, leaving rubbish everywhere, we are not like that.”

Martin stated they have been served an injunction telling them to leave by Wednesday at the latest.

Details were passed to the Essex Countywide Traveller Unit on Wednesday when they arrived.

A spokesman for Basildon Council said: “We are aware that a group of travellers appear to have set up an illegal camp at Beacon’s Field car park of Dry Street, Basildon – land that is managed by Thurrock Council.

“Basildon Council have had no conversations with the group before they arrived and there is no basis on which they could have been offered space.”