A court order was served on the travellers who were illegally occupying the Hill Barn recreation Ground on Thursday, requiring to be off the land by Friday. Cllrs Bryan Turner and Tom Wye were there to see the last of them leave at about 12.30.
The Council's contractors, Continental Landscapes, now have the unenviable task of clearing up the mess they left behind. There has also been some damage to the cricket pavilions, which means that this weekend's matched will have to cancelled.
"The law is not sufficient to allow land owners, like Councils, to protect their own property. We need stronger powers, so that we can get a faster response from the Police. The Council now has a cleaning and repair bill to fund, whilst the travellers move on and can potentially do more damage elsewhere." commented Cllr Bryan Turner