The embattled illegal residents of Dale Farm in Basildon were recently ordered to vacate the land they've lived on for years by the end of August (11) after a lengthy legal battle over their lack of planning permits to live on the former wasteland.

The eviction order has caught the attention of activist Redgrave and she has thrown her support behind the estimated 400 travellers currently residing on the farm in an effort to help them save their homes.

The Oscar winner, who has long sympathised with the plight and treatment of gypsies around the world, says, ""I am certain that the eviction of the Dale Farm traveller families is illegal under international, mandatory, human rights conventions.""

Redgrave even paid a visit to Dale Farm on Tuesday afternoon (30Aug11) - hours before the eviction deadline - during a break from filming her latest movie, Song For Marion.

Speaking during the trip, she said, ""It's a day on which I have great hope that this strong, wise, warm and gentle community will have their rights protected and will not have their rights disintegrated.

""The whole situation is really about planning - there's no crime that has been committed. Evicting these families would be totally unreasonable and irresponsible... Communities up and down this country have been decimated and destroyed but there still are some communities that want to stay together and Dale Farm is one of those.""