THIS image shows the scale of a traveller site which has grown to three times its permitted size.

Taken exclusively for the Echo using a drone operated by Chris Connew, the photograph shows the caravans, static homes and brick built bungalows which now make up the site at Cranfield Park Avenue, in Wickford.

The Echo told yesterday that there are alleged to be more than 100 homes on the land, which has council permission for 32 caravans.

Cranfield Park Avenue has permanent planning permission for nine mobile home pitches and a further seven have temporary permission until August 2020.

There should be no more than two caravans - one static and one touring - on each of the 16 pitches. This means a total 32 are permitted on the site by Basildon Council.

Images, captured by a drone, show that the site is now filled with multiple caravans per pitch.

A spokesman for Basildon Council said: “There are currently a number of ongoing investigations in progress in relation to planning breaches in Cranfield Park Avenue and we are not able to comment further at this stage.”

This is not the first time the authority has become embroiled in a battle with travellers.

In 2011, it spent £7million evicting 83 families from Dale Farm, in Crays Hill.

More recently, five people were found guilty of contempt of court after ignoring a High Court injunction served on land at nearby Silva Lodge Kennels, in Hovefields Avenue, which banned further caravans from moving on.

Separately, the court is also pursuing action against travellers breaching a court order on land west of Hovefields Avenue.