More travellers pitch up at Goring Gap

A group arrived at the site on Thursday with more arriving on Saturday afternoon (April 24).

Earlier in the week, Sussex Police said officers attended Goring Gap to make an assessment and were liaising with the council.

The local Neighbourhood Policing Team said it would continue patrolling the area and a spokesman for the police said they were visiting regularly to engage with the travellers and the community.

Worthing West MP Sir Peter Bottomley said: “The nomadic life is an accepted tradition. Travellers’ incursions cannot continue with forced entry or serious adverse impact on the settled community.

“My team and I remain actively engaged with local communities, both settled and travellers, as well as with the police in response to recent events.”

Gypsies and travellers travel the country as part of a nomadic way of life.

As with any other individual, all gypsies and travellers have rights under the 1998 Human Rights Act.

Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are also protected against discrimination on the basis of their ethnic origins under the 2010 Equalities Act.

In 2014, Amnesty International estimated there were 200,000-300,000 Gypsy and Irish Travellers in the UK.