Westcountry councils are to be given stronger powers to stop illegal travellers' sites being set up, the Government has announced.
Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said current constraints on local authorities taking immediate action against caravans used as a main residence, which they suspect are in breach of planning rules, would be scrapped.
The move is aimed at preventing another Dale Farm, where a long-running legal battle was fought before bailiffs moved in to evict travellers from the site in Essex.
Mr Pickles said: "Drawn-out cases like Dale Farm threatened to bring the legal system into disrepute. I'm determined that we do all we can to avoid situations like that in future.
"In breach of planning law, travellers move in over a bank holiday weekend and it can take years for councils to remove them. Such episodes give the whole travelling community a bad name and fuel community tensions.
"But these new powers will stop those caravans in their tracks. By making these changes, we will stand squarely behind those who play by the rules and use the full force of the law against those who break them."
Devon and Cornwall has seen its fair share of controversy with illegal camps.
One of the most high profile is the "unauthorised" travellers site at Haldon, near Exeter. In 2001, they created a temporary camp in a picnic area of the forest and were never moved on. Teign Housing has now submitted an application for 15 caravan pitches including individual amenity buildings, a community building and sewage treatment plant and bin store. No decision has been reached by Teignbridge Council.
In Cornwall, there is currently an illegal camp at the Carn Brea Leisure Centre, at Pool in West Cornwall.
Councillor Mark Kaczmarek, Cornwall Council's cabinet member for housing, welcomed the Government's decision.
"Until we have official transit site we will always have problems which can be very time-consuming and costly," Coun Kaczmarek said. "We have had Government funding to identify land for transit sites and we are very close to securing those now."
Under the changes, local authorities will be given greater freedom to issue "temporary stop notices", backed up by potentially unlimited fines, against travellers who attempt to breach planning rules.
