A group of travellers is alleged to have illegally connected an unauthorised caravan site to the electricity and water networks in Tilsworth, Bedfordshire, shortly before local homeowners experienced a significant power cut. The incident has heightened tensions in the village, which residents say now has more travellers than permanent locals, and has raised questions about the council's ability to enforce planning rules quickly enough to prevent unauthorised developments taking hold.

The site was expanded without permission over the weekend of Friday 12 June, with workers reportedly moving in just before council staff finished for the day and laying hardcore to extend an existing legal encampment. Central Bedfordshire Council obtained a temporary stop notice the following Tuesday ordering construction to halt, though officials' public statements about the notice's effectiveness have been disputed. The case highlights recurring concerns about rapid unauthorised traveller encampments and the strain they can place on local utilities and council enforcement powers.