A landowner has given a group of travellers until this weekend to move off of a greenbelt site before he takes legal action. 

Developer Graeme Alexander said he has delayed applying for a possession order to remove a family of travellers from the Chepping Hall site in Sewardstone Road, Chingford, due to the cost.

There are now five caravans on the site, which used to be the site of a community hall and scouts hut, after two more arrived last month. 

To prevent the illegal encampment expanding eastwards, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) confirmed it had dug a trench to the left of the site as an "emergency measure".  

Previously Mr Alexander said he was "fed up" with the situation and was reluctant to take any swift action.

But having visited in the last week, he has now given the travellers an ultimatum. 

"Going to court to get them off is like setting fire to a pile of cash because they will just come back," he said.  

"But they have told me they will leave by Sunday (June 21), and if not, then I will be taking action. 

"This is the fifth lot I've had here. They break-in and then move off. 

"It's just a nightmare and whole lot of hassle every time."

Mr Alexander said he reached a "stalemate" with the council following attempts to redevelop the greenbelt site after purchasing it from the authority a decade ago. 

Cabinet member for economic growth and high streets, councillor Clare Coghill admitted, there were "significant barriers" to building anything which is not consistent with protecting its greenbelt status. 

But Conservative Valley ward councillor Alan Siggers, who sits on the planning committee, disagrees.

He said: "I can't think of any reason why the site should not be developed sympathetically to its surroundings. 

"If you look at that area, you have got ribbon development all along that road. 

"The people living opposite deserve something better than derelict buildings. 

"I think the council are completely blinkered and are acting like this simply because they can."