Commons Bill [HL]

I support the noble Lord, Lord Williams. I can cite a case in which 1,500 people and 500 vehicles illegally used a common, resulting in a police cost of £350,000 to eject them over a period of two weeks. The commoners could not leave their houses, and some family members who had diversified could not get to work. It can be an enormous problem. That rave was an illegal invasion. The noble Lord, Lord Williams, referred to people from the locality coming on to a common for just a short period. Commons associations have to pick up the pieces. Enormous damage can be done in a very short time. Surely they should have some rights to resolve those problems.