A woman has described the shocking moment she watched travellers break through a gate with a hammer before a convoy of caravans rolled onto Mousehold Heath.
The group of around 20 caravans arrived last week, accessing the heath through a driveway off Mousehold Lane.
It is guarded by a wooden gate and two metal bollards used to prevent vehicles from accessing the area.
Now, a woman who was driving past on Sunday evening said she saw a man bashing at the gate's locks while more than a dozen caravans queued behind, waiting to get in.
"We saw him with this huge hammer and there was a long line of caravans right down to the roundabout waiting for him.
"He was hitting something on the gate which I thought was the lock."
There is also speculation that the gate had been left unlocked to allow emergency services through following the fire on the heath two weeks ago.
However, the fire service confirmed it already has arrangements in place with Norwich City Council to ensure it can access the heath in the event of an emergency.
Norwich City Council has refused to comment.
Senior councillors have hit out at the unauthorised group after they left the site covered in rubbish and food waste.
There were also remnants of fires on the field off Mousehold Lane, just 100 metres from where the blaze ripped through the heath last month.
It is believed the same group then moved onto Earlham Park on Tuesday night and "intimidated" security guards, who were overseeing contractors packing up last weekend's Rock N Roll Circus Festival, until the early hours of the morning.
Norfolk Police were called to the park after the group gained unauthorised access through an open gate opposite UEA Sportspark.
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