ED FOSS It may have taken an “absurd” number of months, but two caravans and a truck which were blighting a beautiful Norfolk common have been finally removed.

ED FOSS

It may have taken an "absurd" number of months, but two caravans and a truck which were blighting a beautiful Norfolk common were finally removed yesterday.

The abandoned vehicles have been sat in a corner of Hanworth Common, near Cromer, for over a year and become loathed by locals.

Red tape preventing removal has dragged on over the past few months, with planning rules and enforcement action rumbling on.

Meanwhile, the state of the vehicles has worsened, with windows smashed and tyres deflated.

North Norfolk District Council bosses finally organised the removal yesterday. They have defended their stance, saying they were following the necessary legal process.

Yesterday's removal was accompanied by the sound of popping champagne corks as villagers celebrated a sight they had long been hoping for.

Robert Corbishley, chairman of the village commons management committee, said villagers were "jubilant", but said the time taken for the removal to be achieved was "absurd and ridiculous".

Legal action to resolve a bitter argument about the ownership of the common will come to county court later in the year.

The commons committee and landowner Robert Harbord-Hamond both claim the common to be theirs.

An open gardens event to raise money for the commons committee fighting fund raised £1,700 on Sunday.