A CONVOY of travellers who had caused 10 days of mayhem in Borstal met their match when they tried to take over the recreation ground in a nearby village.

Defiant residents of Wouldham formed a human barricade to stop a 40-strong convoy of cars, caravans and vans pouring on to the field.

News of the approaching travellers had spread and a crowd of about 30 local men, women and children blocked off the entrance to the recreation ground, forcing the travellers to turn away and leave their village.

Resident Debbie Burton said: "People power worked. Villagers rallied round."

An estimated 17 vans had moved on to the Shorts Way recreation ground in Borstal on June 22. Medway magistrates issued an order on June 27 for them to leave by last Wednesday.

They moved out the day before and that evening Wouldham villagers barricaded an entrance to their recreation ground with a pick-up truck and van.

Suspicions were first aroused that morning when three strangers in a yellow van arrived in the close-knit village and appeared to be sizing up the field.

Scaffolder Mark Redgrave, who