Uproar as travellers set up camp in Walsall

The illegal settlement off Coppice Road, Walsall Wood, has sparked complaints to the council.

Enforcement officers visited the site yesterday and say they will pursue legal action through the courts if they fail to move on.

A total of 14 caravans and vehicles have settled on the site, close to where the new-look Oak Park Leisure Centre is being built, since Thursday.

It comes after travellers recently set up a camp at Aldridge Airport.

Aldridge North and Walsall Wood Councillor Gary Clarke said: "It is unbelievable really. I have had so many residents onto me. We have got to get them off there.

"I am not against travellers but they have got to do it in the right places."

He added illegal sites can have a negative impact, adding: "It causes a lot of friction with the local community and there is the damage and the cost of clearing up the area."

The borough has previously been plagued by such camps although figures recently showed they had reduced by more than two thirds over 12 months.

There were 12 known settlements in Walsall between January and the start of December last year, compared with just over 50 in the same period in 2013.

Walsall became a hotspot for illegal traveller sites in the region and council chiefs were forced to pursue court action regularly.

In 2013, more than £32,000 was spent tackling the camps through the issuing of legal notices and the associated clean-up costs of sites.

On some occasions travellers moved on just before the order was granted and even relocated to sites just yards away.

The most targeted area in the borough over the last few years was Palfrey, with caravans stopping on land at Bescot Trading Estate, Walstead Road, Broadway West and Bescot Crescent twice.

Action to tackle the issue has included the installation of bollards at Holland Park in Brownhills and £600 on a grass mound at Bentley Haye nature reserve.