Travellers living on Dale Farm in Essex are steadying themselves for eviction after they lost a final appeal against the Basildon Council sending in the bailiffs.
On Monday Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Sullivan said the travellers could not challenge a decision made last week by Mr Justice Ouseley.
Dale Farm resident Kathleen McCarthy said: "We'll have to fight the bailiffs off. We're already in lockdown."
While another resident, Mary Flynn, said the residents had no where to go if they were kicked out of Dale Farm.
“We’re petrified of the eviction, and we’d leave if we had someplace else to go, but we don’t – the Travelling life is pretty much illegal now," she said.
"Basildon Council doesn’t care about this community, during or after an eviction – they just want to put us out on the road. They’re even saying the eviction date will be a surprise.”
Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon Council indicated on Monday that the bailiffs remove to travellers without warning.
“We will not be giving further notice of when a site clearance will now begin. We are required to give 48 hours notice to three plots and that we will do but the rest of the site will now be cleared at a time of our choosing," he said.
The council has been attempting to remove the travellers for a decade.
Bailiffs had been due to begin evicting people from the site in Essex on 19 September, but a series of legal challenges launched by the residents had delayed the operation.
The eviction and the accompanying police operation are expected to cost the council an estimated £18 million.