Travellers will be forced off land in Southend if a possession order is passed.

Southend Council is seeking a Section 77 order to try and move on the travellers, who are illegally camping on land off Snakes Lane, Eastwood.

In an email sent to councillors, which the Echo has seen, bosses have said due to the "level of anti-social behaviour on the site, particularly the most recent incidents", legal action can be taken.

A section 77 order will allow the council to seize possessions and force the travellers to leave the land, near to the David Lloyd Leisure hall, if the order is given the go ahead in the Magistrates Court.

This comes as Southend Council was reportedly putting in place plans to provide running water to the travellers, if one of the group tested positive for coronavirus.

Residents and councillors have previously expressed fury at the travellers, who have been on the site for two weeks, after several reported incidents of anti-social bevhaviour, including late-night parties, publicly urinating, and dumping human waste in the bins on the recreation ground.

Essex Police has launched an investigation at the site, after a woman reported receiving a death threat from on of the travellers and having a chair thrown at her.

Daniel Cowan, Labour councillor of the St Laurence ward, said: "I’m pleased that we have met the evidential threshold to seek a possession order and this is down to a recent surge in official reports from the public, something that I have been encouraging in order to get us to this point.

"However, I am keen to stress that these things do take time and we need those reports of antisocial behaviour and disturbances to continue to be reported.

“I have been in regular contact with officers and cabinet members about this for some time and the hold up has always been a lack of evidence so where some have irresponsibly sought to turn this into a political football, I have put my efforts and attention into working with residents and getting that evidence logged through official channels.

"I have made a strong case to the cabinet for better security at our open spaces and have requested that we take a serious look at replacing the vehicular access gates here with a solid fence to stop future encampments.”