Residents of Dale Farm have won a last-minute injunction preventing Basildon Council from removing structures from Britain's largest illegal traveller site.
Bailiffs had been due to begin evicting people from the site in Essex on Monday following a decade long planning dispute.
But the residents have been granted a reprieve pending a further court hearing on Friday.
Justice Edwards-Stuart said the measures due to be taken by the council "may go further" than the terms of the enforcement notices.
"Having regard to the fact there is no fixed date for starting these - but they are imminent - I do not see that any serious injustice will be caused if the actual implementation of any measures will not take place before the end of this week."
Resident Mary Slattery told the Press Association: "We are delighted. Every day is a bonus. We've got one last chance and we're not going to give up - this gives us so much hope."
Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon Council, said he was "disappointed and extremely frustrated" with the high decision.
"We will be setting out our case robustly at Friday’s hearing when we are confident that our original position will be upheld. In the meantime we will be complying fully with the judges ruling," he said.
On Monday afternoon bailiffs approached the front gate of the site to warn the residents that the barricades they had erected were obstructing emergency access.
A council spokesman addressed the protestors and residents through a megaphone and asked them to stand aside.
"As you are fully aware, there is a legal judgement that allows BBC to restore this area of land back to green belt. We have been facilitating your peaceful protest," he said.
"I have some major health and safety concerns that I wish to discuss with you, namely– that you have deliberately blocked and are, by your actions obstructing the emergent access road.
"In addition to that, I am concerned that the structure you have erected has the potential to put peoples lives in danger, I am concerned for your well being and the well being of BBC’s [Basildon Borough Council] Agents who have been tasked to restore this land."
He asked: "In the interests of health and safety is there anything that I can say or do that will persuade you to remove yourselves in an orderly manner?"
The council agent was met with cries of "go away" from protesters.
Earlier on Monday elderly traveller Mary Flynn lost a separate court bid to challenge her eviction. In August the High Court in London ruled that the council had to review Flynn's personal circumstances and medical needs before proceeding with the eviction.
The council said it had reviewed her case and decided it was safe for her to be moved off the site before the operation went ahead.
In a midday press conference, Ball said he was "disappointed" that the dispute had resulted in a confrontation.
"I would much rather that we reached a much more peaceful solution, and I am still hoping that once our bailiffs will move on site they will be received in a peaceful manner and that the operation will go ahead as we would like it to proceed," he said.
Inside the camp, residents and protestors have created rudimentary fortifications, barricading themselves in alongside supporters. Makeshift scaffolding and quickly built bricks walls have been erected.
A woman is reported to have chained herself by the neck to the gate of the site. A spokesperson for the travellers let it be known that if bailiffs tried to open the gate, the chain would tighten.
Residents and volunteers look down on the entrance from a 10-metre platform built above the main gate.
According to a tweet from ITV's Damon Green, petrol for the Sky News generator has "gone missing".
Teams of bailiffs were due to arrive at 10am on Monday morning to clear out the 400 people who remain on the site.
Many children and older residents have already left.
Essex Police, along with riot-trained officers, are at the site to keep the peace.
The standoff comes after a ten-year legal battle to remove the residents of Britain’s largest illegal travellers’ site.
The Dale Farm encampment, which was built on the site of a former scrapyard, has been the scene of tense exchanges in recent weeks, following notice that the residents had to leave.
Awaiting the bailiff’s arrival, two protestors have chained themselves to a barrel behind the Dale Farm gate. Dean, 29, and Emma, 18 said: “They are prepared to stay as long as it takes”.
Throughout the site, more protestors have reportedly chained themselves to obstacles to hamper the eviction process.
One chained protestor said: "There are people here from all over the world and the travellers have made us so welcome. It has become increasingly difficult for travellers to find a site in recent years. Planning law is very discretionary and we do not feel it's being used fairly."
Dale Farm Resident Kathleen McCarthy said: "If they had any human decency this could be stopped, I plead and beg to stop this. Look what these people (the protesters) are doing to save us."
Speaking to the BBC, she said: "I don't want my children to be in danger, so we're moving them. But we've got nowhere to go after Monday. We don't know what's going to happen to us."