60 Days With The Gypsies | Preview (Channel 4)

In this brand-new two-part programme, explorer and adventurer Ed Stafford spends two months living as a modern Gypsy to present an honest, revealing and entertaining look at one of Britain's most private groups.

With proposed new legislation giving police increased powers to move encampments on, Ed joins families of Gypsies and Travellers facing fines of up to £2500, possible confiscation of property and up to three months in prison if they break the law.

Living with the Gypsy and Traveller communities across the country, Ed questions everything we think we know about their way of life as he experiences their centuries-old traditions by spending time with them on the road.

Immersing himself in Gypsy life, Ed delves beneath the stereotypes to find out what it's like being one of the most marginalised and vulnerable groups in society - living on its verges, outside of its rules and, sometimes, outside its laws.

He reveals the challenges that the Gypsy and Traveller communities face in modern-day Britain and seeks to understand the behaviour he encounters on the fringes of the community. In this first episode, Ed heads to Chichester to spend time with a group of families who have set up camp on the side of a busy A-road next to a housing estate.

He's empathetic to their cause when they're evicted after only three days. In Manchester, Ed learns how to live off the land and hears from the men of the group about the persecution they face as a community.

In Cornwall, Ed joins a group who have settled on a car park in the middle of Newquay, where he teams up with one of the dads, David, and his son, and learns that it's not unusual for children within the community to leave school aged 11. Ed also experiences the cycle of eviction - having been there for just six days, he and the group are moved on.

And in Matlock, Derbyshire, Ed meets a family with vulnerable elderly who are camping on the edge of the town's railway station car park while they await news of a permanent council site.

Both episodes will be available to stream or download for free on All 4 from 7 February, following the transmission of this episode.

60 Days With The Gypsies begins Monday 7th February at 9pm on Channel 4.