Jamie and Eda Pierce, who bought a £3.15million manor house in Pootings, Kent, in 2022, have launched High Court proceedings against the previous owners, Paul and Elizabeth Nott, alleging fraudulent misrepresentation. The couple say the Notts knew travellers were planning to occupy an adjacent field but concealed this before the sale, and are now seeking damages after an illegal traveller encampment was established directly opposite their home. The case is notable both for its scale and for the irony that Paul Nott had previously campaigned against travellers settling on the land himself.

The Pierces claim that when they asked whether there were any plans affecting land within a quarter of a mile of the property, the Notts' solicitor replied "not to our clients' knowledge" — a statement the couple say was false. They allege emails show Paul Nott had been involved since summer 2021 in an unsuccessful bid to block travellers from buying the plot, even attempting to purchase it himself with a neighbour. The encampment was set up overnight on a bank holiday weekend in August last year, with hedgerows cleared, tarmac laid, and utilities installed for four families and 16 children on Green Belt land near Sir Winston Churchill's former home, Chartwell.