Residents of Sawbridgeworth, a Hertfordshire market town, successfully used a High Court injunction to remove travellers who had moved onto a greenbelt site over the August bank holiday weekend. The travellers had already laid a concrete base and fencing on the land, planning to install caravans and mobile homes permanently, which locals feared would become a fait accompli via retrospective planning permission and human rights law protections that typically favour occupiers in such disputes.

A council enforcement officer, Nina Johnson-Marshall, received a police escort to serve the injunction at 12.30am on 31 August, just as the site was about to be occupied; the order banned further development and the stationing of vehicles or homes, with breaches punishable by imprisonment, fines or asset seizure. The judge's decision was reportedly influenced by an antisemitic remark and a threat made against a protester at the scene. By 9am the site had been cleared without incident, to applause from residents, with local councillor Greg Rattey praising the community's united response.