TV star Martin Clunes has lost his battle against plans for a travellers’ site next to his £5m farmhouse.

The actor, 64, has spent three years trying to stop neighbours Theo Langton and Ruth McGill turning a temporary woodland encampment into a permanent travellers’ site –  even hiring a barrister to fight their plans.

But on Thursday, council officials granted permission for the off-grid couple to make their encampment a permanent site and add two spaces for travelling caravans so family and friends can visit.

It will be within a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and about 300 yards from the Doc Martin actor’s luxury home near Beaminster, Dorset.

Mr Clunes and his wife Philippa Braithwaite attended the council meeting where their planning barrister warned members that granting permission would be unlawful.

John Still KC said the decision would set a precedent and encourage other people to buy a piece of land and build an encampment to live on while bypassing local planning rules.

He said it was ‘wholly unfair’ on law-abiding residents including his clients who have made numerous requests to the local authority to take action against the encampment in the past.

But councillors ruled there was a ‘significant need’ for and lack of supply of traveller sites in Dorset.

They also heard how Mr Langton and Ms McGill were valued members of the local community and talented artists who had even displayed their work at Mr Clunes’ own agricultural fair.

Their right to a family life under article 8 of the Human Rights Act was also cited as a reason why permission should be granted.

Martin Clunes and wife Philipa Braithwaite attended the Dorset Council meeting on Thursday

Theo Langton and Ruth McGill  have been granted permission to make their encampment a permanent site and add two spaces for travelling caravans so family and friends can visit

A view of plot owned by Mr Langton and Ms McGill, who have secured permanent planning permission for the site

Martin Clunes, pictured at his farm, declined to say if he would appeal the decision afterwards

Mr Clunes declined to say if he would appeal the decision afterwards. 

New Age Travellers Mr Langton and Ms McGill have lived ‘off-grid’ at the site at Meerhay, near Beaminster, Dorset, since 2003.

Mr Langton, 56, bought the plot from his mother, the landscape gardener Georgia Langton, who lived at nearby Meerhay Farm.

He and his partner, 52, live in a 45ft by 16ft static caravan on a rolling temporary licence.

They survive without running water or electricity and use a compost toilet.

They have lived in the timber-clad caravan for 23 years. 

They applied for permanent permission in 2022 to keep their 42ft long caravan and add room for two touring vans. 

They also sought restrospective consent for a barn already on the site they use as a workshop.

Mr Clunes, best known for his portrayal of the curmudgeonly GP Martin Ellingham in the ITV series Doc Martin, and wife Philippa Braithwaite, bought the £5m farmhouse from Georgia Langton in 2007.

He and several other local residents opposed the plans.

They claimed the couple did not meet the legal definition of traveller status and therefore had no right to a full-time base and at one point accused them of being ‘cynical and dishonest’ over their case.

They claimed that building a travellers’ site in an AONB was wholly inappropriate.

Ruth McGil (pictured in green jacket, right) arriving at County Hall Dorchester on Thursday

View showing Martin Clunes house at the bottom and Theo Langton’s woodland travellers site at the middle top of the image

The actor, 64, has spent three years trying to stop neighbours Theo Langton and Ruth McGill turning a temporary woodland encampment into a permanent travellers’ site – even hiring a barrister to fight their plans.

Several residents spoke out against the proposal at the meeting at Dorset County Hall.

James Green, a retired chartered accountant representing the Meerhay residents Diana and Robert Clarke, said granting permission would be rewarding an illegal act and setting a dangerous precedent.

He said: ‘The objectors have taken legal advice and the proposed development in is breach of local and national planning policy and granting permission would be unlawful.

‘The applicants are no different to other traders who attend festivals, the only difference is the others return to their homes and the applicants return to live illegally at Meerhay which they consider to be their permanent home with its 25 acres of land.

‘They have erected and extended the buildings on site all without obtaining planning consent. What if others were to do his? Are they to be rewarded by the granting of planning permission.

‘The applicants give no reason why they couldn’t buy or rent a home locally.

‘They are leading the way to get around planning permission; they are opening the gates for many others pleading special circumstances to acquire a piece of land to bring in caravans and call themselves New Age Travellers.’

Mr Still, speaking on behalf of Mr Clunes and Ms Braithwaite, said: ‘Since June 2020 they have occupied the site in breach of planning control and have added to the buildings and car park on the site.

‘The council has taken no action despite numerous local residents’ requests.

‘What if planning permission is granted? Others will follow, others are waiting. The strong message will be that those with similar lifestyles can get around the planning system in Dorset.

‘What is the answer?’ It is to refuse permission and grant them a final temporary planning permission to enable them to make a proper search for a new site.

‘My clients are willing to assist and that is more than fair and reasonable. Granting planning will be unlawful and will undermine planning policy and be wholly unfair to the law abiding local residents.’

But Dorset Council planning officer Bob Burden told the committee there was a ‘significant unmet need’ for gypsy and traveller sites in the county, and approving the application would not set a precedent.

He said: ‘The protection of the national landscape does not provide a strong reason for refusing this application that is my view particularly the additional landscaping that is proposed.

‘The Gypsy Liaison Officer has met with the applicants and is satisfied in her view they are travellers of the relevant definition and have traveller status.

‘There is a clear need for sites that we can’t find for gypsies or travellers. The council can’t demonstrate a five year supply for these needs.

‘It doesn’t set a precedent because it is so focused on the activities in the way this family run the site.

‘The site is very well ordered and very compact and has low impact visually.

‘This is a case where the position is specific to this family, and I do not see this as setting an undesirable precedent.’

In his report ahead of the meeting, he argued that refusal of the application ‘could result in the loss of the family’s home and so be an interference with their rights under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights’.

Reverend Jonathan Herbert, chaplain to gypsies and travellers at the Diocese of Salisbury, who has known the applicants for over a decade, said: ‘We need 143 new pitches in the Dorset area over the next few years.

‘It will be a struggle to attain that target, partly due to the hostility of local residents to any proposed site.’

Paula Tuff, a local parish councillor, also spoke up for Mr Langton and Ms McGill. She said: ‘I would like to hope that Dorset supports everyone, not just the chosen few.

‘I strongly believe this application should be passed to enable them to continue to live in the way they choose and support their family while doing good work in the local community.’

Planning agent Simon Ruston said: ‘At the heart of this case is the notion of difference.

‘The applicants live different lives of most other people, however the planning system and local community are able to accommodate these.’

He added that there were 47 letters in support of the application, which has also been backed by the town council.

Several councillors then spoke out in favour of the application before it went to a vote.

Cllr Belinda Bowden, Green councillor for Lyme and Charmouth, said: ‘There is a growing and significant need for gypsy and traveller sites.

‘Far from objecting, we should be celebrating the brave and innovative way they have thrived while minimising their impact on the environment.’

Labour Councillor Kate Wheeler added: ‘The family have been on the land for a long time, have been embedded in the community and are well liked.

‘There’s no suggestion there’s any anti-social behaviour or anything of that sort, which is very often the case when we have this type of application.’