BASILDON Council is paying rent for at least 15 families to live at Dale Farm, even though it wants to kick them out, the Echo has learned.

A number of families facing eviction from the Crays Hill illegal camp are claiming housing benefit because they do not own their mobile homes, but some own the land where they are pitched.

West Sussex-based mobile home rental company C Jenkin & Co has hired about 15 chalets to travellers at the site since it was illegally expanded seven years ago.

This means the council has been paying rent for people it has fought for years to evict through costly court battles.

David McPherson-Davis, a Ramsden Crays parish councillor, said: “It seems a conflict of interests paying people to live on land it wants to clear. If they were not being paid, would they have the mobiles and be illegally occupying the land?”

Not all travellers own the land where their rented homes stand.

Nora O’Brien, 58, admitted at a planning inquiry to claiming housing benefit to rent a mobile home from another traveller at the site.

And Nora Sheridan, 84, said the council pays housing benefit for her chalet, on land owned by a family who live on another part of the site.

Mr McPherson-Davis said: “What about ground rent? Are people claiming that, too? These questions need addressing.”

A manager at C Jenkin & Co, who did not want to be named, said the council was initially reluctant to pay up, but two families at Crays Hill took them to court and won.

She said: “The judge said if people were eligible for housing benefit, a council must pay, regardless of where the home is.

“We have about 15 homes at Crays Hill – two on the legal site where the council pays £125 a week.

“It stopped paying some on the illegal part, and capped the rest there at £25 a week a few years ago.

“It argues they should pay less because they are illegal, but this is not cost effective for us, and we are in dispute.”

She said the company hoped the situation would have been resolved by now, but it was reluctant to recover homes not currently being paid for because of the costs and difficulties involved.

Grattan Puxon, a campaigner for the site, said: “The fact the council is paying people’s rent should help their case to stay where they are.”

People at the site qualify for housing benefit because most families there are on income support, according to a 2006 council report.

Tony Ball, council leader, said he was unaware of the situation, but vowed to make urgent inquiries.