Clean-up begins after travellers invade village

The last of the unwanted visitors departed from the green in front of St Mary the Virgin Church by yesterday morning (Wednesday, July 8) to leave rubbish and what is believed to be a pair of burnt gates behind.

They left just before the county council was due in court to get an eviction order.

The village's county councillor, Christina Freeman, said everyone was pitching in to remove the remains of the travellers. "It's unacceptable this has happened. It's the desecration of the countryside and the health-and-safety issues which concern me.

"We really have to look to the future and see what measures we can take to stop this occurring again.

"I know the green is used for general car parking for events in the church sometimes, and I don't believe that should be happening. I will be talking to county council officers to see if we can do something about that."

The travellers arrived on the green in Church Lane on Friday, July 3. Five caravans and several cars were believed to have been involved. Two of them moved on to land next to the hall behind the church, owned by the hall's trustees.

Those pair of caravans went on Tuesday (July 7) with only a small amount of rubbish left. But a pair of gates was missing.

She said farmer James Baird had placed some concrete blocks at the entrance to the church hall land to stop further camps being set up there.

Climping parish councillor David Biss said fencing should be installed around the green to protect it. But the council was unable to afford the work. He wanted the county council to fund it.

What do you think? Click here to send a letter to [email protected] or leave a comment below.

Click here to go back to Chichester news

Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news

Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news

To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click on the link below to add yourself to our readers' map.

MAP