Second illegal traveller camp moves off Walsall site

A caravan and car settled on land opposite homes and the Masjid Hamza mosque and community centre in Mill Street on Monday, just days after another group had been forced to leave.

Landowner Walsall Council issued a removal notice yesterday after being granted court approval.

Walsall Magistrates Court was told that the council was alerted to the first unauthorised encampment, near homes and a mosque, on April 11. A separate removal notice was issued at the time and the occupants subsequently moved.

Enforcement officer Mark Wilson said he visited the site at 7.30am yesterday but by the end of the hearing the land had been vacated.

Solicitor Kerry Munroe said the land was leased to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and that the church had not given any permission for anyone to move on to the land.

Neighbours said the caravan and car left around 10.30am yesterday.

Sarabjit Kaur, aged 32, of Mill Street, has lived opposite the field for three years. She said: "It seems to be all the time now that they move from one place to another.

"A lot of people do get worried and frightened when they set up camp because they feel they are being watched all the time."

Russell Smith, aged 34, also lives opposite the land. He said: "First of all we had one caravan a few days ago, then another joined and then they went. Then this latest one turned up.

"It hasn't caused us too many problems to be fair. But the council has been trying to get them moved."

Travellers also settled on a car park in Mill Street, Ryecroft, in January, with the landowners, Walsall Housing Group, then forced to issue a notice.

There have also been camps set up in Goscote Lodge Crescent, Walsall, and Chester Road North, Brownhills, this year.

Recent figures showed that councils spent more than £60,000 moving on travellers in the West Midlands region last year.

The largest amount was spent by Sandwell Council, which paid £55,933 in 2011/12 for site security, legal fees and moving waste.

Walsall Council spent £6,600 on bollards and a special grass mound to stop potential incursions, while Wolverhampton City Council spent £1,075 in 2011/12 on legal fees to get the families moved on.

Dudley Council spent £5,000 on clean-up fees after an eviction at a site in Bagley Street in 2010/11.

A park in Brownhills has also become a hotspot for travellers in the past.

Wooden bollards were installed at Holland Park, in Chester Road North, to try to tackle the problem after traveller convoys repeatedly rolled on to the site.

The latest case was in March this year, which sparked an investigation by the council.

There were also regular problems with travellers in Pelsall last year. They left a trail of litter, including gas canisters and dirty nappies, in the village in February 2012.