This is the moment an angry farmer decided to clear travellers off his land himself.

Dave Dawson, 67, confronted the group yesterday morning (June 13) after caravans parked on the site close to the A27 at Shoreham.

First he demanded the travellers leave the field immediately.

When they refused he called police – warning officers he would turn his digger on the group if they did not move.

Police rushed to the scene at 6.45am to try to prevent the incident on the land next to the A283, close to the Shoreham flyover, from escalating.

A metal gate that barred the entrance to the land had been damaged so it could be moved out of the way.

At one stage officers had to stand between Mr Dawson and the travellers to prevent the argument turning violent.

Eventually the group decided to cut their losses and drove their caravans off the site.

It was not known last night where the travellers had moved to.

Mr Dawson said: “I would have used any force possible to get them off my land. "I got down here about 6am and told them to move off. There were four vans there at the time and more parked up outside.

“I came down with the digger and tractor and told them if they didn’t move I was going to move them.

“I just won’t tolerate it.

“It is my land. I bought it and I have worked hard for it.

“I called the police and told them I was going to get the digger and move them.

“I didn’t care if they got squashed by the bucket, flattened or left on their own, but one way or another I was going to get them off my land.

“The police told me that once they are on the land they have rights. But what about my rights?

"If I had left it to the authorities they could have been on my land for weeks.

“I wasn’t going to wait for a court order to get rid of them.

“If I hadn’t taken matters into my own hands they’d still be there.”

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: “Six caravans turned up on land at Longacres Farm in Steyning Road, Shoreham.

“The landowner also turned up and threatened to evict the travellers.

“Police attended and remained on scene to prevent a breach of peace. The travellers left the site of their own accord at 9.35am.”