The SUN
Monday, May 1, 2006
By JOHN SCOTT
FURIOUS farmer Tim Hollis got gipsies off his land — by spraying them in slurry.
He mounted the early morning raid on their caravans after reaching the end of his tether.
Tim, 40, was enraged when he saw the convoy parked in one of his fields despite his warning signs.
So he drove into the midst of the 17 caravans and vans with his muck spreader — splattering everything in sight.
Most of the gipsies were still asleep when he launched the 7.30am assault.
Tim said: “When I saw this group of caravans there I just did it.”
And as the furious gipsies stormed out of their homes, Tim simply carried on.
He added: “This has been a problem for four years.
“I had already put up signs saying ‘No parking, slurry spreading in progress’. I had reached breaking point.”
But as he headed into another field to continue spraying, triumphant Tim was attacked — and stunned by a blow to the head.
He went on: “They appeared running alongside the tractor.
“One threw an iron bar through the window, which hit me on the back of the head, cutting me and causing concussion.
“It was very frightening. If they had stopped the tractor it could have been curtains for me. Travellers have been infringing on my land for a long time.
“I always spray manure on my fields to stop unwanted visitors getting on.
“But I had not done it for a while because I had been away on holiday.”
The gipsies complained to police — who told them to leave the land at Marston-on-Dove, Derbyshire.
They had moved on to the field after being served an eviction notice to leave a grass verge owned by the council.
PC Dan Love, who was called to the scene, said: “We advised the travellers to move on to prevent a breach of the peace and they have now done that.
“The farmer says he had told the group in no uncertain terms that he would be muck-spreading and that is what he has done.”
