£18m bill for travellers

And across the Black Country, taxpayers are forking out around an incredible £1,000 a week to tackle the problem.

The staggering figures come after 19 caravans set up home on a Wolverhampton community park just weeks before a £780,000 facelift was completed.

Within days the expensively landscaped grounds at Dixon Street in Parkfields, were criss-crossed with tyre tracks and littered with broken glass, piles of rubbish and old clothes, denying families the chance to enjoy the new amenity over the Bank Holiday weekend.

There have been 28 other illegal sites set up in the city during the past 12 months – seven on council land and the rest on private land.

Scores more throughout the West Midlands are costing tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money in court action to remove the travellers and clean up the mess after they have left.

Councillor Malcolm Gwinnett, whose Spring Vale ward in Wolverhampton was seen four illegal camps in three months, said: "It is a never-ending nightmare."

Estimates suggest there are up to 300,000 travellers roaming the country.

Around one in four of England's 15,500 caravans are using unauthorised camps or developments, creating headaches for councils, police and landowners.

Councillor Pat Byrne, Wolverhampton environment boss, said: "This creates a lot of hassle for local people and expense for the local authority in legal fees and cleaning the place, which can cost up to £50,000 a time."

The Commission for Racial Equality said there was a "continuing cycle of eviction estimated to cost £18 million a year."

* Don't miss Tuesday's Express & Star for more special reports.