A Tory councillor said he viewed the camp "with alarm"

The county council said 16 Gypsy families moved on to land they own on Friday, and set up water and electrical supplies, a septic tank and paving.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council said the site at Darlingscott, near Shipston-on-Stour, was "unlawful".

But Zack Follows, from the site, said the arrivals were all taxpayers and the Gypsy community had "nowhere to go".

The site is near the house of David Mills, the estranged husband of Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell.

We cannot keep on being pushed from pillar to post Zack Follows

Stratford-on-Avon District Council said, as the enforcement agency responsible for planning and environmental health issues, it was "considering what appropriate action to take with regards to this unlawful development".

It said it had received 50 calls about the Gypsy development and was meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss what action to take next.

Warwickshire County Council is backing the district council, and said the site was "designated as agricultural land" and would require planning approval for such development.

Tory county councillor Chris Saint, who represents the area, said on Monday: "We view it with alarm because I have no information about a planning application even being lodged, let alone granted, and I would be the first to know."

Asked whether he thought the Gypsies targeted the bank holiday weekend as no-one would be working at the council's offices, Mr Saint said: "We don't know that for certain.

"But the speculation is that they have done this because there is a four-day window when officialdom is unlikely to get to them."

'Legitimate businesses'

Mr Follows, 31, said 16 plots had been sold for about £20,000 each.

"The council is supposed to be supplying sites for the Gypsy community but no sites are being provided and there is nowhere for the community to go," he said.

"We have got piles of papers from how many times we have been refused sites.

"At the end of the day, we cannot keep on being pushed from pillar to post.

"One hundred per cent of the people here are taxpayers who have legitimate businesses."