FRENCH farmers who sprayed manure at squatters invading their land celebrated a major victory after a court ordered the intruders to evict.
Agricultural workers from the village of Hautes-Vosges in eastern France feared prosecution after they sprayed a mixture of faeces and water across their farmland to push out the invaders.
Astonishing footage showed the furious farmers using tractors to spray the slurry across their agricultural field where the caravans were parked.
The squatters, who parked their campers illegally, were seen battling to stop the onslaught of stinking faeces as the tractors chased them down.
The hardworking farmers said they were driven to the boiling point after cops refused to step in and remove the “illegal gypsy camp” residing on their land.
With harvest due in just a few weeks – and the invaders refusing to leave – they finally decided to take matters into their own hands.
The farmers told The Sun that a judge today ordered up to 500 members of a “travelling community of gypsies” to evict the encampment.
François, 64, said: “It is a major victory for us. A civil court decision went in our favour.
“The travellers were told to move out within 24 hours, or else face police intervention and fines.
“Around 500 of them, travelling in about 200 caravans, all left.”
Loic Madre, the man who shot the video, claimed the travellers moved onto the field – meant for animals to graze on – without permission.
To the farmers’ delight, France’s Interior Ministry said tighter controls on travelling communities would be introduced in the Autumn.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said: “These measures aim, in particular, to increase prison sentences for illegal settlement involving acts of destruction, degradation, or deterioration, and harm to the natural environment.”
“Some 20 measures will be outlined in a legislative package that will be put to parliament in September.”
Travellers parking their caravans in any field they come across is viewed as a major problem across Europe, including in Britain.
The squatters at Hautes-Vosges fought back against the farmers, attacking the tractor drivers and forming human chains to try and hold them up.
One man was filmed jumping onto a moving tractor and frantically knocking on the driver’s window.
“The tractors almost knocked us over,” said Olivier, spokesman for the Action Grand Passage association, which campaigns for traveller rights.
“All we want is a place to stay for a few days, but these cowboys are stopping us,” Olivier added.
Last year, a similar tactic was adopted by Brit farmer Jack Bellamy when he caught a camper on his land.
Shocking footage showed an angry Bellamy spotting the tent and saying: “I tell you what, these ***** will set up anywhere.”
He then jumped in his tractor and drove up alongside the trespasser, unleashing a 15-second blast of stinking slurry .
