The travellers own the land they have been ordered to leave

About 100 police officers and bailiffs moved in to the site in Wolvey Road, Bulkington, at 0730 BST on Wednesday.

The travellers had already lost a fight in the High Court to stay on the land.

The council, which has offered to re-house the families, had to postpone an earlier eviction attempt when the group set fire to caravans to deter bailiffs.

Police said that all four people arrested have since been released without charge.

Riot gear

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has been trying for years to get the travellers to leave the site, which they own but built on without planning permission.

A spokesman for the travellers said bailiffs and police in riot gear turned up at the site on Wednesday morning.

We're just going to have to pack up and pull into the nearest lay-by Traveller John Lee

John Lee said machinery was used to dig up the site.

"Only six out of the normal 20 families are on the site as the rest are off travelling.

"When they return they will have no homes," he told BBC News Online.

"There are lots of bailiffs here and police in riot gear carrying batons are stood behind them.

The travellers lit fires to foil a previous eviction effort

"They don't understand that we have nowhere to go, we're just going to have to pack up and pull into the nearest lay-by."

About 20 families have been living on land for three years.

The council offered to re-house the families in permanent homes after winning an eviction order at the High Court in November.

The group refused the offer on the basis that the houses would not be compatible with their way of life.

I would argue they had plenty of advance notice to leave the site Alan Franks Council spokesman

David Wilshaw, the solicitor representing the travellers, told BBC News Online he was trying to find ways to protect the group.

"A High Court judge told the local authority there should be cooperation, but I don't call bailiffs turning up on the doorstep at 7 or 8am without prior warning co-operation by any means."

But Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council denied it had acted unreasonably.

Alan Franks, director of environmental services, said: "I would argue they (the travellers) had plenty of advance notice to leave the site.

�100,000 cost

"This unlawful development has been on site in excess of three years."

Although the travellers own the site in Bulkington, they were served with an eviction order because they put up fences and driveways on the green belt land without planning permission.

The council postponed an eviction in January after the group dug trenches, formed a human shield and set fire to caravans to prevent bailiffs from evicting them.