In Bulkington, travellers have been served an eviction order

The group bought the one-and-a-half acre field in the village of Eckington at the end of last week from a local farmer.

But Wychavon District Council took out an enforcement action after the group began to develop the field.

Dozens of families encamped there have just three days to pack up and leave.

The land is being used unlawfully for residential purposes Jack Hegarty, Wychavon District Council

If they refuse to go, the council will call in the bailiffs to remove them.

Although an application to develop the field was submitted to the council on the same day the group bought the field, contractors began laying groundwork without waiting for a decision by the authority's planning committee.

Wychavon's managing director Jack Hegarty said: "This deliberate breach of planning control is totally unacceptable to the council and, of course, local residents.

"Not only are development works being carried out without planning permission, the land is being used unlawfully for residential purposes."

Ron Stainer, a spokesman for the families involved, has warned that a legal challenge over the eviction could ensue.

The case mirrors that of a group of travellers who are in the process of being evicted from a site in Bulkington, north Warwickshire.

They had also bought the land they were on but had begun putting up fences and driveways on the green belt land without planning permission.