A family of travellers have asked for permission to set up home on the site of a disused nursery. 

Kathleen O'Driscoll is asking to house four caravans for named relatives at the former Son’s Nursery site in Hamlet Hill, Roydon, for four years.  

She is also seeking to change an office block on the land into a utility building. 

Mrs O'Driscoll and her two sons and two daughters, along with their children, are the proposed named residents of the land. 

Epping Forest District Council has received objections to the application from residents, including the Roydon Hamlet Residents Association. 

In a statement the association said: “We strongly object to this application and ask this is not supported and approved. 

“The site has a history of being anti-social and really concerns local Residents.  

"Son's nursery has the potential to become a very large Gypsy encampment over time and planners need be very aware of this. 

“We recognise that Gypsy and Travellers have a right to be homed but at the same challenge EFDC to find alternative sites that can be developed in other areas outside of Roydon Hamlet.” 

Residents claim the area is seen as "soft" and has had many applications for traveller families approved. 

A decision will be made by the council planning committee at a meeting tomorrow evening.