Residents of a Home Counties village loved by celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne and Cheryl Tweedy have claimed that a group of ‘feral’ travellers are terrorising their idyllic setting.  

Villagers of Chalfont St Peter, where the average house price sells for £800,000 and some even reach £2.5 million, say the group are ‘running riot’ and reacted with anger to the news the council has now approved a permanent site for them. 

This week, the council said that the caravan site they had erected without permission on green belt land can now remain – sparking fears of a house price dip from some inhabitants of the Buckinghamshire village.   

The new permanent site would has four pitches in place but the activity in and around the village has been rumbling on for years. 

Residents claim that since this move, travellers have destroyed trees on the plot, carried out development not in keeping with the application and left litter and fly-tipping ‘everywhere’.

In the village, it is claimed they order and eat food from local cafes and then do not pay.

And there are signs the ill feeling has boiled over into an all out civil war in the village. 

On approach to the site, graffiti has been dubbed on the wooden gates of the camp, reading: ‘where are the trees?’This is apparently a message to the travellers.

Residents of a Home Counties village loved by celebrities have declared war on a group of travellers 

Residents of Chalfont St Peters, where homes can sell for £2.5million, claim they have been ‘terrorised’ by the group 

They say the group has chopped down trees and some residents have now scrawled on their fence to ask for answers 

The village is popular among London commuters, as it is just 5.7km north of the M2. Sharon Osbourne has a hamlet just a mile away and Cheryl Tweed once lived in the village with her son, Bear. 

TV couple Tess Daly and Vernon Kay also live just a few miles away.

One businesswoman, who lives opposite the travellers, told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s hell. We’re being terrorised by these feral travellers.

‘We’re all thinking of moving. Our prices have really reduced because of it. One couple in the village cannot sell their house and blame them.

‘We know a woman who runs a cafe and they come in, order their food, take it, then do a runner without paying. I’ve seen that.

‘They leave so much rubbish there around the site. We do litter picks but why should we really. But we do but it’s back to as bad as it was in no time at all.’

The woman said she was ‘gobsmacked’ to hear planning permission had been granted.

She added: ‘What sort of message does this send out? It’s wrong. Big trees have been cut down on the site. They must have been hundreds of years old.’

Michael Richards, 56, believes £30,000 would have been knocked off his detached house value.

The surveyor said: ‘I’ve lived here for 10 years. It’s a wonderful area. But they seem to have been allowed to get away with anything. I wanted an extension for one bedroom. It was like pulling teeth. They can do whatever they want. It’s a disgrace.

‘Our house prices will reduce. I am sure mine has gone down £30,000 because we’re so close. Why would you want to live here?

‘It used to be land full of trees. They have got rid of them. It’s totally wrong. That’s what annoys me more than anything.

Cheryl Tweed once lived in the village with her son, Bear

The council announced this week that the traveller site has been granted permanent status 

And some locals in the pretty Buckinghamshire village fear this will drive down house prices 

The traveller community did not respond to the Mail’s request for comment when approached 

The so-called Chalfonts – made up of Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont – have long proved attractive to celebrities who are keen on the area’s rural location yet proximity to London – Chalfont St Peter lies just 5.7km north of the M2.

Tom Hawkins, 38, described the situation as an ‘injustice’.

He said: ‘It’s like an invasion. They have cut down all the trees. It’s wrong. That’s greenbelt land.

‘It was beautiful countryside five or six years ago. Now the council is allowing an even larger traveller site.

‘They can just do whatever they want.’

The travellers were approached at the site for comment.