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A furious farmer who showered tons of of campers with smelly fertiliser after they arrange on his field in France has defended his actions.
Fifth-generation dairy farmer Pierre Richard says he was forced to spray liquid manure on the campers after police allegedly refused to take motion to clear the illegal settlement.
As much as 250 caravans, considered from the traveller community heading to a non secular festival, arrived on a field near the village of Le Syndicat within the Vosges region in northeastern France owned by Pierre and his family, reportedly without permission.
The farmer, 37, claimed that the people had refused to establish at an empty travellers site nearby and as a substitute had ‘broken through the barriers and arrange camp, tons of of them.’
He told the Day by day Mail: ‘They preferred to remain here on my land. It’s a fantastic place, within the mountains, next to a river, and with fresh green grass.
‘They arrived at about 8pm on a Sunday night. Once I heard they were there I went down there, but it surely was too late.
‘That they had broken through the barriers and arrange camp, tons of of them.
‘The next day I went to the police, but they said there was nothing they might do.’
Two days after the campers broke entry, Pierre decided to take matters into his own hands and spray the realm ‘to make certain no more of them would come.’
It shouldn’t be known whether the person tried to talk to any of the squatters before the clash on July 8.
Dramatic footage shows the moment Pierre and his team approach the campsite, with Pierre insisting they stayed ‘a minimum of 10 metres from the caravans.’
He said the campers ‘chased us and attacked us in our cabs,’ claiming that they broke one in every of his wing mirrors through the clash.
In France, communities with greater than 5,000 residents must provide a traveller site, and there was a dedicated site in the realm.
Nevertheless, the squatters insisted that the nearby site was too small for his or her 250-caravan convoy, in line with local reports.
Frustrated Pierre added: ‘They preferred to remain here on my land. It’s a fantastic place, within the mountains, next to a river, and with fresh green grass.’
He defended his actions, saying in the event that they hadn’t sprayed the sector, more caravans might need turned up, putting the grass he uses to feed cattle in danger.
‘Not only do they break the grass, they break the land and the river,’ he said.
‘Their cars and caravans flatten the earth and make it harder for the grass to grow.’
He said he now fears retaliation from the group.
Pascal Claude, the mayor of Syndicat, commented on the clash: ‘That they had no right to establish camp there, but they forced the barrier at the doorway of the land. The farmers and I are totally against this.
‘Not only did they arrange camp on a protected natural land, it’s also a protected water source.’
A representative for the campers told a court when an eviction order was being discussed that the group had asked the council to supply a site for them, but their request was ignored.
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