LANDOWNERS who identified their Pitsea site as a possible home for hundreds of travellers today admitted they were "unaware" their land was also earmarked to take millions of tonnes of Crossrail waste.

The Echo revealed in March the Terminus Drive site was set aside in a Parliamentary bill as a transfer station for spoil from the Crossrail project.

Bosses of English Partnerships, the site owner, have confirmed they did not know about the plans for their own land when they suggested it could be used as an alternative for travellers facing eviction from Dale Farm in Crays Hill, near Billericay.

Despite the blunder the agency is still defending the plan which would see travellers living next to the waste transfer station.

Published Thursday, December 1, 2005