Travellers on rec move on

The travellers arrived on June 26 and landowner South Heighton Parish Council immediately applied to magistrates for an eviction order.

But the group left on Thursday last week after several meetings with the police.

Council chairman Tim Cogdon said: 'The parish council is delighted to have the community facility back under its control. '

Volunteers from the village spent their weekend clearing the site, removing general rubbish and domestic appliances which had been fly-tipped.

Concrete blocks have been donated by a local haulage firm which will be placed in front of the field to stop vehicle access.

In last week's Express report about the travellers' camp, Chris Whitwell, director of Friends, Families and Travellers, said there were too few sites available for travellers.

But resident Steve Wood disagreed.

He said: 'A few hundred yards away from our rec is a caravan site that has modern facilities where these travellers could have stopped had they chosen to.

'They would have been able to empty their chemical toilets into the sewerage system instead of the land drainage ditch adjacent to the playing field, and their rubbish into wheelie bins, separating out the recyclable material assisting the green issue.

'This one week stay will cost the local council a lot to clean up. There is environmental damage, litter and health hazards to be rectified.

'That is without the long term issues affecting the residents. I for one will not be picking blackberries from the hedgerow for several years now after they dumped their human faeces in the bramble bushes.'