Horrified villagers in a sleepy rural hamlet have accused a 'land-grabbing' group of travellers of 'devastating' their home by tearing up a field and paving it in 24 hours.
'Powerless' locals in the isolated farming community of Charles have lashed out at the alleged 'eco-vandalism' after industrial diggers ripped into a field and levelled it.
Diggers bulldozed through a large grass bank to gain access to the secluded field in the picturesque north Devon hamlet - which is home to just a few dozen homes.
The work, which is believed to be part of an unauthorised project to build a new traveller site, started at about 5pm on Monday evening, locals said.
Within 24 hours, the tranquil patch grassland had been transformed into a grey eyesore, standing out against the rolling green hills of the surrounding countryside.
