Mayor thanks ‘wonderful people of Seaford’ after travellers invade fields

Twenty traveller vehicles arrived on the fields on Monday (September 2), after moving on from Hove Lawns.

Sussex Police and Seaford Town Council took action against the traveller camp and they were moved on under S61 of the Police and Criminal Justice Act.

Town mayor Nazish Adil said: “I would like to thank each and everyone of the residents for their community spirit for coming together with me with a helping hand clearing up all the garbage and putting it in a safe place.

“Special thanks to Sally Cherriman who volunteered to offer her front porch to dump the bags and secured them with tarpaulin covering.

“It was a pleasure awarding them all with the mayor’s certificate of appreciation.

“My heart felt gratitude to the lovely warm and wonderful people of Seaford. Together we can, together we will!”

The town council also thanked residents for their tolerance.

A spokesman said on Tuesday: “With thanks to the diligent work of town council officers and the magnificent support of Sussex Police the travellers have been served with a Section 61 notice and have vacated and left the Martello Fields within less than 24 hours of arriving.

“Many thanks also go to residents who reported incidents to police and for their tolerance during this period.

“The town council would like to say a big thank you to all the willing community members who helped to clear the rubbish left within the Martello Fields.

“The speed of this clearance was unbelievable. Volunteers were supported by Seaford’s mayor councillor Nazish Adil and subsequently all the sacks of rubbish – approximately 14 – were taken to a private waste transfer station by councillor Boorman at no cost to the tax payer.”

The group of travellers moved on to Hastings on Tuesday evening. The group were issued with the same notice to leave on Wednesday.