Published Thursday 16 April 2026 at 10:30
A judge has today ruled that a family of Travellers must vacate an unlawful encampment in Darwen and return the land back to its original state.
Judge Catherine Howells, sitting at Liverpool County Court, ruled that Blackburn with Darwen Council’s application for a full injunction be granted.
Following a two-day hearing, and having taken into consideration the family’s circumstances, she has allowed them nine months – until January 15, 2027 – to fully vacate the site, close to Whitehall Park, and complete all remedial work.
This includes removing all caravans, buildings, structures and hardcore, plus the reseeding of the land.
If the defendants in this case – Mr Thomas Young, Mr James Young, Mr John Young and Mr Jack Young – fail to meet the court-imposed deadline, it could result in an unlimited fine, imprisonment and/or seizure of assets.
Court action could also be taken for any additional works carried out between now and January 15, 2027, if it is not related to restoring the land back to its original state.
At the hearing, the judge also granted the Council’s application for costs.
The family now has 21 days to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal.
A spokesperson for Blackburn with Darwen Council said:
This has been a long and incredibly complex case which has required significant resources from right across the council and our partners too, including unprecedented court action.
It came after a large number of complaints from residents about the encampment, which breaches national planning policy and is unlawful.
We welcome Judge Howells’ decision today and will continue to monitor the site carefully.
Background
National planning policy prevents designated open countryside from being used for residential purposes.
This parcel of land, which neighbours the park and Darwen Old Cemetery, is designated as open countryside with a legal use of agriculture.
The Young family first moved onto the site in May 2024. They had bought the land without first checking with the Council that their proposal to introduce a Traveller encampment there would be acceptable and before attempting to secure planning permission.
Due to a large number of complaints from residents and serious concerns regarding the unauthorised development, the Council’s Planning Enforcement Team used its powers to issue a Temporary Stop Notice.
Due to ongoing works which breached this order, it was replaced by a Full Stop Notice and Enforcement Notice in July that year.
The Full Stop Notice prevented all engineering works, including the provision of utility services (water, electricity, etc.) and the importing and depositing of waste material for hard services.
It also prevented the unlawful residential use of the land, requiring the removal of all caravans and associated works.
The Enforcement Notice also set out that the land must be returned to the condition it was before. Legally, the Council had to give an appropriate amount of time to allow this to happen.
Throughout this, the family continued to live on the site, and they submitted a retrospective planning application seeking a change of use from agriculture to a Gypsy caravan site, including six plots – each with a static and two mobile caravans – as well as a utility block, porous stone hard standing and associated fencing.
In accordance with the national policy, the Council’s Planning Team refused the application for the site in Hall Moss Lane on five grounds:
- The principle of the development
- The detrimental impact on the highway network, including public rights of ways
- Visual impact
- Ecological issues
- Lack of assessment on the impact on the landscape character
An appeal was then lodged with the Planning Inspectorate by the Youngs.
In the meantime, and again with evidence of breaches of the Full Stop Notice, the Council sought an interim injunction from the courts. This was granted at an emergency hearing at Manchester Civil Court in July 2025.
In terms of the appeal, a public hearing was held at Blackburn Town Hall in September last year where a Planning Inspector heard evidence from the Council and the applicant as well as representations from residents supporting both sides.
Following the hearing, the Inspector dismissed the appeal saying he had found no basis for planning permission to be granted.
He ruled that all of the caravans must be removed and the land reinstated to the condition, to ensure the family had enough time to find alternative accommodation, he extended that deadline to January 5th, 2026.
Despite the ruling, the family were still living on the site on that date and so the Council sought a full injunction at a court hearing in January, which was adjourned following an application by the Young family.
Now, following a two-day hearing, the full injunction has been granted by Judge Catherine Howells.
This means that the Travellers must now leave the site and restore it back to open countryside by the deadline of January 15, 2027.