WEALTHY villagers are clubbing together up to buy a field nestled between Eton College and Windsor Castle worth £100,000 to stop a possible traveller site being built there.

The five-acre vacant field that has come up for sale is on a farm in the affluent Berkshire village of Eton Wick.

Sitting across the River Thames from it is the Royal residence of the Queen and Prince Philip while the £42,000 a year private school where Princes William and Harry went is next door.

The 5.2 acre paddock is being sold as part of a liquidated estate at an auction this week and has a guide price of £100,000.

As the field forms part of the greenbelt and is on a flood plain planning permission to build houses on it seems unlikely.

Rumours have been circulating that the field could be developed to make room for a huge travellers encampment.

Fears were heightened when a workman entered the site on a digger without permission and started felling dozens of trees.

The man is said to have told one local resident that the clearing work was to make way for a travellers site that would be 'one of the biggest around.'

The work went on for two days and was eventually stopped when the police and local council were called.

In a post on Facebook resident Kenny Williams said: "I asked the man who was cutting it down and he said he has been paid to cut it down to make way for a travel site that is going to be there.

"He said apparently it was going to be one of the biggest site around and that they were planning on moving in very soon and then seek planning permission after."

The damage and destruction has turned the green field, that is less than a mile from Windsor Castle and just yards from the Royal Windsor Race Course, into 'like something from the Somme.'

There was a general outcry when all this happened.

One villager, who asked not to be named, said: "This land is in the shadow in Windsor Castle and is right next door to Eton College.

"The site has been bulldozed and now looks like the Somme battlefield. It looks awful. I am told that Eton College are also very concerned.

"The general view locally is that it is being prepared for a travellers site. What other purpose could there be?"

Villagers have since formed a community group to take pledges from people in an effort to raise at least £100,000 to buy the field and protect it from any unwanted development on it.

Ron Lewandowski, the chairman of Eton Town Council, said: "There was a general outcry when all this happened.

"A lot of trees were cut down, it looked like Godzilla had run amok.

"There is a lot of concern and worry about the future of the site. The land makes up the green belt and it is a food plain. It would be very hard to get planning permission to build on.

"The Eton Wick Village Association is funnelling and collecting pledges with a view of making a bid for the site.

"The pledges are multiple and it is looking pretty encouraging.

"I am incredibly proud of the village that they have rallied round like this to try and gain control of this land and stop it from going to somebody who hasn't got the best interest in the village of Eton Wick and the town of Eton."

One theory being offered by residents is that any travellers encampment could be a short-term development that would devalue the land and make it easier to gain planning permission for 50 houses.

A spokesman Eton Town Council added in a statement: "Eton Town Council deplores the damage done at Crown Farm.

"The site is due to come up for auction on 17th June where it seems extremely likely that one of the bidders will be the person responsible for what has happened so far.

"There are likely to be other bidders of course but in the event that nobody else comes forward it would appear likely that the site could be purchased by the aforementioned and can only speculate on what happens next in that event."

In the meantime the Eton Wick Village Association has urged concerned locals not to get involved in demonstrations on the site.

A spokesman said: "Whilst we understand this wilful destruction of habitat has created an eyesore as well as leaving residents with many sleepless nights, we encourage you to refrain, for your own safety, from public demonstrations."

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