FAMILIES face having their £280,000 homes demolished after it emerged the site's millionaire "gipsy king" owner didn't have planning permission.

Distraught residents say it's been "absolute hell" since moving to Lakeview Park site in Romford, owned by My Big Fat Gypsy Fortune star Alfie Best.

They learned last week that the mobile home site, run by Wyldecrest Homes, was built outside the current caravan park licence and within the green belt.

Havering council has given people 12 months to find new places to live following a decision by the planning inspectorate, the Romford Recorder reports.

Resident Linda Baldock, 72, and grandmother-of-five moved into her £280,000 mobile home after selling her bungalow in Collier Row two years ago.

The retired council worker pays £200 for ground rent on the illegal site on the London-Essex border and council tax on top of that.

Mrs Baldock, who is registered disabled lives alone in the mobile home, said: “It has been absolute hell since I moved in here two years ago.

“First of all sewage came up through the shower and soaked the carpet in the hall, then they put these dangerous steps out here.

“Then they started doing the road and the council came and put the stop order on it.

“Now I’m living in limbo and I think I’m going to get evicted.

“I don’t know what happens if chucked out, but they have to reimburse me for the property and the ground rent I have been paying.

“I’ll be evicted after Christmas but it’s hanging over me, I don’t know where I’ll be. I’ll have to find somewhere else to live.

“I thought I’d spend my retirement here, it’s appalling.

“Alfie Best has so much money he should be able to reimburse us all.

“I can’t believe the council upheld the decision, everyone down here is appalled.

“The problem is they can’t move these off the site, I don’t know what we will do.”

Ann Hughes, 63, a retired carer, says her husband Roger, 68, has been driven into a care home by the eviction.

Now the grandmother-of-two says she has been pushed to a “breakdown” and has been left living “in hell”.

She bought the mobile home two and a half years ago for £120,000 and has spent nearly £10,000 improving it.

She said: “Through this I believe my husband is in a nursing home.

“He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and when we got the enforcement notice he had these turns where he couldn’t understand why we couldn’t sell our home.

“It’s a nightmare up here, it really is, there are open sewers and everything.

“I have had a breakdown, this is my life savings, my husband is in a nursing home he’s going down hill, his sister is on the end of life down stairs in the same home.

“Then there is this on top.

“I don’t want to be here know more, if I saw Alfie Best I would blame him for my husband going into a care home.

“I think it is disgraceful how he treats the over 55’s, I’m just hoping to get my money back.

“It is disgusting. Ambulances can’t even come down here because the road is so bad, I don’t want to think about what could happen.”

Wyldecrest, which is part of Best’s company Best Holdings (UK) Limited, said it's "disappointed by the decision" and will be lodging a further appeal.

Best has insisted he has planning permission and claimed the council's motivation is “because I’m gipsy”.

Leader of Havering Council, Councillor Damian White, disputes that claim, branding Wyldecrest a "rogue business".

He said: “The council is shocked and appalled at the way this company has targeted and exploited unsuspecting residents who bought these mobile homes in good faith.

“The owners of the site flagrantly flouted planning laws by extending their current site onto greenbelt land then selling mobile homes without planning permission or without thought to the welfare of residents investing their hard earned money.

“We can’t sit back and let rogue businesses encroach on our greenbelt.

"The council will always do everything in its power to protect Havering’s environment so the borough stays a special place for everyone to enjoy.

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“We are on the side of our residents and we will be on hand to offer housing advice and support.

"But we urge the owners of the land to do the right thing and work out a resolution with their customers as quickly as possible.”

A spokesperson for Alfie Best's company said: "Wyldecrest Parks is disappointed that the Government’s Planning Inspectorate has decided to dismiss our appeal against the enforcement notice at our Lakeview Park site.

"Despite this decision, we maintain that we have not breached planning controls and will be working with our legal team, local council and affected residents to lodge a further appeal as a matter of urgency.

"The welfare of Wyldecrest’s residents is and remains our number one priority."

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