After the High Court in Britain ruled that an illegal  irish traveller camp in Crays Hill, Essex be demolished, the travellers got a little help from an unexpected source --- the United Nations.

In a surprising intervention, the UN condemned plans to bulldoze the Dale Farm camp and insisted that the eviction be suspended until the travellers are found 'culturally appropriate alternative accomodation,' reports the Daily Mail. The call to halt the demoliton came from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Deiscrimination.

After learning of the UN's support, travellers in the camp raised the organization's blue flag in celebration.

Homeowners living next to the camp were furious.

"The UN should stop sticking their oar in. It has nothing to do with them," said Len Gridley, 52, whose property backs on to the site.

"It’s a planning issue, pure and simple, and if this causes another delay, which I fear it will, then they should have to pay for the costs of the eviction."

The UN has no direct power to halt the eviction, which will displace 80 families and cost taxpayers £18 million, but their intervention will be sure to inflame the already tense situation. The travellers also have support from more than 100 anarchists and activists, who have descended on the site to try and block the eviction, which is set to begin in the next two weeks.

Although the protests are being billed as 'non-violent action,' one anarchist said: "Everyone knows this is going to end in violence. It’s what always happens.

Some of the protesters may pretend that this is peaceful, but behind the scenes we are holding war meetings."

John Baron, MP for Basildon and Billericay, criticized actress Vanessa Redgrave and local bishops for supporting the travellers.

"Their intervention at this late stage just gives false hope to the travellers," he said. "These people should instead focus on the difference between right and wrong."