For many homeowners, it is their worst fear.Their idyllic view, their noise barrier, their privacy, destroyed in a weekend.It is a nightmare the residents of Bridgefoot Cottages - which lie along Watling Street, the ancient Roman road, in Hertfordshire - know all too well and have endured for years after travellers arrived to fell the thick woodland at the end of their gardens.In 2022, men on diggers razed the trees to the ground without permission, exposing the cottages to a busy main road and their residents to foul-mouthed invaders.Two years later, after having their retrospective planning application rejected by Hertsmere council, the travellers on the site were given five more years to remain 'temporarily' by the Government's Planning Inspectorate.Key to the successful appeal was their claim that a mother, Theresa Lane, and her five children needed a settled base for their family to live.An 11-year-old child, who has Down's Syndrome, was brought to the Planning Inspectorate's hearing, where it was argued she needed to live near a specialist school.But those at the hearing said it was unclear what connection the girl had to the family. The site, pictured through scaffolding from a neighbouring cottage, was previously filled with greenery But in 2022 travellers arrived and razed the parcel of green belt land to the groundMen on diggers cut down the trees and levelled the plot without permission, allegedly hurling abuse at residents nearby The travellers applied for retrospective planning permission which was granted for five years, until 2029, by the Government's Planning InspectorateOne Hertsmere resident who attended the Planning Inspectorate hearing told the Daily Mail the child 'was not acknowledged' by the traveller family and 'did not show any indication that she knew them'.'It felt like she was ignored by the applicant party.'They added there had been a 'general absence of common sense' over the decision to grant temporary planning permission and said they had no doubt the family would 'produce the girl again' were there to be a further hearing.