Travellers have waged a fresh series of bank holiday land grabs as diggers and bulldozers spent the weekend tearing up fields and cutting down trees while council offices were closed. Patches of countryside in West Sussex, Kent and Lincolnshire were the latest areas to be targeted by unscrupulous developers over the three-day break - to the dismay of locals. Work involving heavy machinery started at a site in West Chiltington, in West Sussex, on Friday, near the world-renowned English sparkling wine estate Nyetimber. Development carried on throughout the weekend in the picturesque village. Aerial images reveal that a large proportion of the field has since been tarmacked over - with a number of mobile homes seemingly ready to move in. It follows a trend that has seen travellers purchase land, often in leafy parts of the Home Counties, before unauthorised sites are set up. Planning permission is then sought retrospectively, with travellers often granted the permanent right to stay because there is an 'unmet need for pitches'.One local in West Chiltington claimed that despite the council and police being present at the site on Friday, the 'unauthorised' work carried on regardless.They said: 'We believe it is a traveller site. There were lots of lorries and other vehicles. WEST SUSSEX: Work involving heavy machinery started at a site in the picturesque village of West Chiltington on Friday and carried on throughout the weekendPicture from Google Earth showing what the field looked like before the work began KENT: A tractor operating on Friday near a traveller site in the Kent commuter village of West Malling LINCOLNSHIRE: A group of travellers have set up camp at Weelsby Woods in Grimsby over the weekend 'The local council and police were here then, but the work carried on.'Another neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had seen lots of vehicles coming to and from the field. 'They started on Friday and there have been lots of vehicles. You can hear the work is still going on,' he said. 'I've not seen any planning notices go up.'The development comes after the Daily Mail revealed councils up and down the country were on 'red alert' for fresh traveller land grabs over the bank holiday weekend. We discovered a Facebook post by a construction firm boss who had arranged for lorry loads of hardcore to be delivered to development locations in Horley, Surrey, and Horsham, West Sussex.Karl Kavanagh, 48, who runs Hampshire-based KK Construction, posted to the group last Wednesday that he wanted about 100 loads of crushed aggregate for a location in the Horley area of Surrey over Saturday and Sunday.He followed up with a further post on Thursday saying tipper lorries were needed in the Horsham area from Saturday to Monday for the price of £200 a load.When the Daily Mail called him, Mr Kavanagh claimed not to know what the loads were for or the precise sites they were intended for, other than the fact they were in Horley and Horsham.He said: 'I'm a subcontractor. I don't know what it's for. I'm just trying to organise it for a main contractor we do a lot of building work for. I was just asked to put up the posts as a registered building company.'He said he could not rule out the loads being destined for traveller sites as some firms would be willing to provide the materials 'when money was involved'. WEST SUSSEX: Aerial images reveal that a large proportion of the field has since been tarmacked over - with a number of mobile homes seemingly ready to move in KENT: An aerial view of the development, which won retrospective planning permission in 2025 despite being built illegally KENT: Locals said a new unit was moved onto the site at West Malling over the weekend Meanwhile, locals in West Malling, Kent, also claim they have fallen victim to a traveller 'land grab' following a burst of development at a nearby site.Workmen were seen clearing trees, cleaning the site and removing boundary screening on Friday. One traveller denied there were any plans to build over new land and insisted they had been granted planning permission for landscaping. However, the Daily Mail can now reveal that another mobile home was moved onto the site on Monday. One said: 'The new unit came on site last night (bank holiday Monday). 'The council will not visit until tomorrow and it is obvious from the road that this is now a breach. Another bank holiday land grab.' The land in the Stockbroker Belt village of West Malling was bought by the travellers for just £105,000 at auction in 2020. Then over the course of a series of weekends, caravans, mobile washrooms, a septic tank and dog kennels were illegally installed.Although the council issued an enforcement notice in 2021, the decision was successfully appealed, and permission was later granted in December last year.Due to the development, the land is now classified as 'Grey Belt' and according to property website Zoopla part of the field could now be worth as much as £1.4million.Locals told the Daily Mail their 'treasured greenbelt land has been transformed into a lucrative asset for those who flouted planning laws'.One neighbour said of the burst of development on Friday: 'We think they're gearing up for a land grab. We will do everything we can to stop them.'We're keeping a close eye on what they're doing. We're on alert. Their work is substantial so far.'They've done whatever they want so far and got away with it, so there's nothing to stop them doing it again.'There's plenty of space on there for more caravans or mobile homes.'The work has been ongoing for a few days now. They don't communicate with us and tell us. It's shocking.'Another local said: 'It looks like they're moving fencing and the boundary. This is worrying.'They're removing trees and foliage which I think could be for more caravans to arrive.