The quiet hamlet of Sole Street in rural Kent is a picture-postcard vision of village life.

There is a mock-tudor shop, appropriately named ‘The Little Shop’, a tiny church hall made of tin, a two-platform station and a bustling country pub.

Flanking a main road that cuts through the community, homes begin as grand detached properties, with manicured gardens and wide driveways and end with cosy period cottages.

Locals are surrounded by apple orchards, green fields, country parks and good schools with the villages of Meopham and historic Cobham just a short drive away.

Theres no grafitti or litter in sight and children play safely. 

So it is no surprise to say, Sole Street is a sought-after postcode locally, with homes fetching up to £800k.

But while they may be the envy of neighbours, residents have told the Daily Mail that they have gone from country bliss to living ‘hell’.

Tensions flared after families were disturbed by the whirring sound of chainsaws on Saturday night.

The next morning they were greeted by the ‘diabolical’ carnage of beloved trees, more than 100 years old, axed along a quaint country lane.

Families suspect that the trunks were axed to make way for a series of unauthorised mobile homes to be installed at a legal traveller site on a neighbouring field.

This is depsite the plot only having permission for one static home.

Liz Johnson, 65, who owns land opposite, said: ‘Oak trees, which are 100 years old, were destroyed. It was totally hacked down to allow new vehicles onto the pitch. It always happens at weekends or bank holidays so council officers are not in their office.

 ‘The travellers always block the road as well when it happens. It’s dreadful. New vehicles went on straight away after the trees were removed.’

The trees are the most recent incident in a series of clashes between locals and the traveller community.

There have been complaints of threats and intimidation from those at the site, loud noise and anti-social behaviour. 

Locals say this is linked to all three neighbouring traveller plots on land off Sole Street.

They claim the police are ‘absolutely useless’ and are ‘scared of upsetting’ those at the site.

In December, another mobile home was transported onto the site, allegedly causing ‘dreadful’ damage to trees and hedgerows on land which Mrs Johnson owns.

She said: ‘It’s history repeating itself. That was on my land. Trees that day over 100 years old were ruined. They don’t care. It’s horrendous.’

After the December incident, applicant Mr Shilling applied for permission to put a mobile home, touring caravan and day room on the land, but it was refused by Gravesham Council in February.

The decision report stated it would be ‘inappropriate’ and would harm the openness of the green belt, resulting in encroachment of the countryside. 

More than 330 people objected, many criticising the fact that work had already started.

The Planning Inspectorate has since overturned the council’s decision, allowing the plans to go ahead and contradicting the terms of the High Court injunction.

The injunction does not prevent the consideration of an application for planning permission, or any subsequent appeal.

Mrs Johnson added: ‘They break the rules and do not get punished. We have to do everything by the book, why don’t they?

‘I have been reporting issues with that site for years. The police and the council are too scared. If I caused as many problems as them, I would get arrested.

‘It’s two-tier policing. They leave rubbish all over the lane, they have no consideration for the crazy speed they drive. They can be very aggressive if you question them.

‘It’s heartbreaking seeing trees destroyed. This is a lovely area. They spoil it though.

‘But the police are absolutely useless.’

Her husband, Gordon, 59, added: ‘There’s enough room for 100 caravans on the site.

‘They have not stuck to any of the rules so far. What is to stop them putting 100 caravans on there?

‘If you have five people in each, that’s another 500 people. That’s a village in itself. It’s crazy. They don’t care about anyone else.’

One lady in her 80s who lives on the lane said the situation leaves her ‘frightened’.

She said: ‘We’ve been fighting this for 22 years. Ever since they moved in there has been problems.

‘It’s so unfair that they can move onto the field and then do whatever they like. They close the road. They shout and swear if you call them out.

‘We’ve seen the devastation of the countryside. If everyone acted like that then there would be nothing left. It’s criminal damage.

‘The police and council seem very frightened to do anything.’

She said she claims there has been repeated planning breaches at the site. She added: ‘They are always moving people in. They don’t stick to the rules.

‘People come and go as they like there. It’s like Piccadilly Circus.’

Paul Sullivan, 45, has lived on the road for over 10 years and said he wanted to leave, fearing his £700,000 house had lost value.

He said: ‘They make it pure hell. It’s outrageous. If you question them when they close the road they make threats. They say ‘this is our land’ and issue what they call ‘last warnings’.

‘The police have been told about all of this. One verbally abused my wife the other week, I was furious.

‘They’ve caused devastation to the trees.’

Another said: ‘If we all stopped paying our taxes, we’d go to prison. So why can they get away with all of this? It’s wrong.’

There is also another live planning application to put eight mobile homes and day rooms in the field opposite.

If approved, the 75,000 sq ft site would be divided into plots, each with two mobile homes, two day rooms, and parking for two touring caravans and two cars.

It is partly retrospective, as the land has already been covered to make it hardstanding, with posts and rail fencing erected to divide it into plots.

One resident said: ‘Even if it is rejected, I have no hope that they won’t just do what they like anyway.’

A spokesperson for Gravesham Borough Council said: The legal powers available to us do not result in immediate on-site action in cases such as this. We are required by law to follow the enforcement route, and when faced with non-compliance seek recourse through lengthy civil court action.

‘This is a route we pursue, as evidenced by the jailing of a landowner for breach of a High Court injunction obtained by this council in a similar case at Fowlers Stone Wood in nearby Vigo previously.

‘This latest site is already subject to a high court injunction and an enforcement notice that comes into effect in February 2026.

‘A planning application was refused by the Local Planning Authority on the site in February. The application was later allowed at appeal by the Planning Inspectorate.

‘There is also a live planning application, which is currently being considered.

Whilst not seeking to prejudice any future legal steps that may be taken by the Local Authority, the council is monitoring the situation closely, has taken action on this site and is not afraid to take further relevant action within our legal powers where possible.’

A Kent Police spokesperson said; ‘Kent Police is investigating a report of criminal damage to several trees in White Post Lane near Sole Street, Cobham.

‘The incident happened between 12.55am and 1.04am on Sunday 5 October 2025. Officers have attended the area multiple times over the course of their investigation, working closely with Gravesham Borough Council and residents. Inquiries are ongoing.’