A FRENCH farmer who sprayed manure at a group of travellers camped on his land now says he fears “reprisals”.
Shocking footage shows farmers using tractors to douse dozens of white caravans with liquid fertilizer on a field in the Vosges region of north-east France.
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Pierre Richard, 37, and other farmers set about spraying liquid manure on a group who had set up camp on Pierre’s family farm near the village of Le Syndicat.
The field, passed down through five generations, is used to grow hay for Pierre’s 50 dairy cows.
He claims police told him there was nothing they could do about the situation, forcing him to take matters in his own hands.
As the tractors approached, people inside the caravans were seen running away.
One person leapt onto a moving tractor, clinging to its side and shaking his fist in anger.
The furious farmer told the Daily Mail: “I’d simply had enough. They want us to simply shut our mouths and let them squat on our land. But this year I refused.”
Pierre added he feared “reprisals” from the group after the ordeal.
He said: “You never know when they will come back. You don’t know what they might do. We have no idea who they are or what they have done in the past.
“I’ve got nothing against travellers. We just want this to stop. So that we can do our jobs and feed the people.”
The farmer claimed that the 250 caravans ignored a designated traveller site nearby.
He said: “They preferred to stay here on my land. It’s a beautiful place, in the mountains, next to a river, and with fresh green grass.
“They arrived at about 8pm on a Sunday night. When I heard they were there I went down there, but it was too late.
“They had broken through the barriers and set up camp, hundreds of them.
“The following day I went to the police, but they said there was nothing they could do.
“So, on the Tuesday we went out with the tractors and sprayed the rest of the prairie with slurry to make sure no more of them would come.
“As you can see from the footage, we stayed a minimum of 10 metres from the caravans.”
The group of farmers who sprayed the squatters previously feared prosecution for the act.
But they told The Sun on Tuesday that a judge ordered up to 500 members of the travelling community to evict the encampment.
Farmer 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.”
The group is said to have been en route to Grostenquin – about 90 minutes from the Luxembourg-France border – for an annual evangelical festival.
The religious event, organised by the evangelical group Vie et Lumière (‘Life and Light’), is scheduled to take place between August 24 and 31, at the Grostenquin airbase.
Around 5,000 caravans and between 15,000 to 20,000 people are expected to attend, according to regional news outlet Actu.fr.
The return of the event has reportedly sparked controversy, with some local officials calling it “unacceptable” and farmers claiming it affects their work during the busy late-summer season.
However, rights groups argue that this reflects long-standing discrimination against the travelling community in France.
This comes as Brit farmer Jack Bellamy similarly sprayed manure after discovering a camper van parked on his land last year.
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