THE Government has agreed to pay £1.2million towards evicting about 96 traveller families from the illegal Dale Farm site.

The funding will go towards the total cost of clearing the Crays Hill site, which some fear could run to £18million, including policing costs.

The Department for Communities and Local Government had previously rejected a request for more than £3million, so the news has been welcomed by Basildon Council.

There is still no news on whether the Home Office will part-fund the possible £10.4million the evictions could cost Essex Police.

Tory council leader Tony Ball said: “We were expecting no Government funding, so it was a surprise.

“It is not as much as we had hoped for, but it is the first sign the Government accepts this is a national, and not just a local issue for Basildon.”

However, Mr Ball stressed the money would not necessarily be used to reduce the council’s £8million share of the budget for the evictions.

He said: “This simply takes our total budget to £9.2million for the evictions.”

However, Basildon and Billericay MP John Baron thinks the funding should go to Essex Police if the force fails to get all the money it needs from the Home Office.

He said: “After months of lobbying by the council and myself, this is a small step in the right direction, given the department initially refused all funding.

“There is still a big funding gap in the policing costs, which we are looking to the Government to fill, and these negotiations are ongoing.”

Grattan Puxon, campaigner for the travellers, said the Government decision showed it supported the eviction against the advice of the United Nations and Council of Europe.

He added: “This is even more public money going towards a solution which is not a solution.”

Council officials have already been to Dale Farm to record the personal details of camp residents, in preparation for evictions.

Mr Puxon said families had been given until the end of the month to fill out forms and give them back to the council.

He added: “We still hope to challenge the decision at the High Court, on grounds the council is not considering personal circumstances. There is one man who is now bed-bound and cannot live on the roadside, another with severe learning disabilities and a number of pregnant women.

“The action proposed is disproportionate.”