A last-ditch attempt by travellers to return to green belt land in Meriden has been thrown out by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

The group, who were evicted from the site, near Solihull, earlier this year, had launched an appeal.

Mr Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities, agreed with an earlier decision by a planning inspector that the travellers’ appeal should be dismissed.

Almost 200 villagers undertook a lengthy 24-hour-a-day vigil after travellers invaded a field, in Eaves Green Lane, on a Bank Holiday weekend in 2010.

David McGrath, who led the Residents Against Inappropriate Development (RAID) group, welcomed the latest decision against the travellers, led by Noah Burton who made the appeal.

“This is unsurprising news,” he said. “More than 20 previous decisions show that it’s inappropriate to develop this land because of a combination of factors.

“These range from flooding, poor access, accidents and its position within the greenbelt.

“If the travellers had done their homework, rather than rushing in with bulldozers and barristers, they would have found this out.”

Mr Pickles backed concerns about changing the status of the land from agricultural to residential.

A report from the Department for Communities said: “The Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector that the caravan site would, by definition, be harmful to the Green Belt.”

The travellers finally left in April ending the three-year stand-off – 24 hours before the deadline imposed by a court.

Inspector Diane Lewis held an inquiry in August into an appeal against Solihull Council’s decision to refuse planning permission to change the use of land for caravans.