BASILDON Council was right to offer bricks and mortar accommodation to travellers facing eviction from an illegal site, a judge has said.

John and Mary Flynn and John and Barbara Sheridan launched a county court appeal after the council offered them flats and housing across the district as alternative accommodation to their illegal pitches on the Dale Farm camp at Crays Hill.

They argued the council had a duty to find them alternative caravan pitches because of their nomadic roots.

However, his honour deputy circuit Judge Peter Dedman ruled the council houses were acceptable and refused leave for them to appeal his decision.

More in Monday’s Echo.