Drug dealer is at the center of the May Day invasion: Company linked to County Lines boss buys plot of land in idyllic village – and moves caravans while council staff enjoy bank holiday

A company that owns a field turned into an illegal caravan park by travelers over the May bank holiday weekend has been linked to a county drug dealer, the Daily Mail can reveal.

An army of workers descended on a four-acre nature reserve at Willows Green, near Felsted, Essex, within hours of the local district council closing its doors on Friday.

The land grab is part of a trend of travelers building unauthorized developments during holiday weekends when municipal offices are closed. They then apply for a retroactive building permit in an attempt to make the site permanent.

A second site emerged on Saturday at Three Acres near Canterbury, with trucks delivering static houses and an excavator spreading building materials.

The landowner has now been served with a cease and desist order, any violation of which constitutes a criminal offence.

However, no such action has been taken against the site near Felsted, which is registered as owned by UK Real Estate and Land 2 Limited.

The company paid £125,000 cash to the previous owner for the land on April 29, 2025, with a deed of transfer to pay him more if its value increased.

Companies House documents list one of the directors as Chad Brady, a 31-year-old man from Yorkshire.

Brady was appointed at Hull Crown Court last year as manager of a lucrative cocaine business in the seaside town of Bridlington.

The shameless criminal recruited his own sister as a £150-a-day runner but was busted after sending large advertising messages to locals.

Chad Brady at Hull Crown Court last year, where he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking

An army of workers descended on a four-acre nature reserve in the historic hamlet of Willows Green, near Felsted, Essex, within hours of the local district council closing its doors

BEFORE: Villagers voiced outrage after Uttlesford District Council failed to obtain a preventive legal emergency injunction

He admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work and 10 days’ rehabilitation activity.

Brady resigned as director of UK Real Estate and Land 2 Limited last January while the court case was ongoing. He is director of seventeen other defunct companies and three active companies, one of which describes itself as a yoga school.

Also listed are David Malcolm Kaye, director of more than 500 companies, most of which have dissolved, and 31-year-old Lauren Anne Connell, who has led 33 dissolved companies and four active companies.

About 30 vehicles, including cars, vans and several excavators, were taken onto the field under cover of darkness in the constituency of Conservative MP James Cleverly.

Vegetation was being cleared to prepare the ground for a hard surface and asphalt base and aerial photographs taken yesterday showed fences already installed as diggers continued to lay rubble.

Mr Cleverly was seen walking in a field near the site yesterday and posted a video on Facebook demanding action was taken.

“This is why we must take action to ensure that this type of construction work, which is taking place outside office hours and is clearly trying to game the system, is able to take decisive and rapid action,” the former home secretary said.

“Because the local community here knows this will be disruptive to them, and anyone who has tried to get a builder to work after hours on a Friday on a bank holiday weekend knows something is not right here.”

A second site emerged on Saturday at Three Acres near Canterbury, with trucks bringing in mobile homes and an excavator spreading building materials.

An outraged James Cleverly has accused travelers of ‘gaming the system’. He has previously suggested that there is ‘two levels of justice’ when it comes to the application of rules and laws to travelers

It came just hours after the Tory MP suggested there was ‘two levels of justice’ when it came to applying rules and laws to travellers.

The Daily Mail had identified the site as at risk of becoming an illegal camp after a local government source warned that travelers were planning to import thousands of tonnes of hardcore to set up a site over the bank holiday weekend.

In an earlier video, Mr Cleverly said that “we often see situations” where travelers move onto land they own and “without building permits just build, build, build.” He added: ‘No one else should be doing this. And when the authorities try to take action, whether it is the municipality or the police, they are accused of racism to prevent them from doing the right thing.

“A system designed to protect people is being weaponized to enable them to do the wrong thing.”

The field, which was illegally developed, was sold by a farmer to a property company for £125,000 a year ago. It is since believed to have been marketed as around ten smaller plots, with fears some had been purchased by members of the traveling community.

Using floodlights and generators, several men worked through the night on weekends to rebuild the pristine landscape. Residents, whose homes in the picturesque hamlet overlook one side of the site, watched the work begin and woke up to see it continuing.

A man in his 60s said: ‘The field was flooded with vehicles, noise and lights all night. By the time the council reopens on Tuesday there will no doubt be a full-fledged caravan park opposite our homes.”

There had been criticism that Uttlesford District Council had not taken preventative measures, such as using an Article Four directive to ban any normally permitted development. Others said it could have tried to obtain an emergency injunction so that if work started it would be a criminal offence.

The owner of the land at Three Acres near Canterbury had previously applied for planning permission to install a hard surface for three caravans.

The vegetation was broken up to prepare the ground for a hard and asphalt base. On Sunday, aerial photos showed fences had already been erected as diggers continued to lay rubble

About 30 vehicles, including cars, vans and several excavators, were brought onto the field under cover of darkness on Friday

This was refused on April 2, but work still started during the May bank holiday weekend.

A spokesperson for Canterbury City Council said: ‘We always take reports of unauthorized activity seriously and act as quickly as we can.

‘In this case we issued a stop notice on Friday and will carry out further checks later this week to ensure this is being complied with.’

Three councils in the south east were forced to take legal action over the Easter weekend after several traveler groups set up new unauthorized sites in Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.

Uttlesford District Council has been contacted for comment.