PICTURES: Travellers leave rubbish strewn over Black Country play area
Trolleys, cushions, a rug and wooden panels are among a pile of rubbish which has been left strewn over a children's play area and park by travellers in the Black Country.
A council has been left with a huge clean-up job after the mess was left behind at Brades Park in Oldbury.
The travellers had been camped on the land, off Dudley Road East, for the last fortnight.
Rubbish has been left piled around the children's slide, while part of the fencing has also been damaged.
Further mess, including a sofa, wooden panels and bin bags filled with rubbish have been left on the other side of the field, which is regularly used by dog walkers and children.
Residents said it was not the first time travellers had pitched up on the land and their latest visit has led to calls for more to be done to try and stop them from getting on again.
John Evans, aged 56, who lives nearby and walks his dog on the park, said: "I am disgusted. I was gobsmacked when I saw the mess.
"It's outrageous, they have wrecked all the park for the kids and the community and it's us who will have to pay for it.
"Why couldn't they have just left it they way they found it?
"They have got to put some concrete bollards up to try and stop it from happening again."
It comes as Sandwell Council bosses are currently discussing ways to try and crackdown on the number of travellers moving onto green spaces across the borough.
Caravans pitching up on land across the Black Country has been a feature of the summer, with some groups returning to the same location having been previously moved on, leading to growing frustration among residents.
Sandwell Council leader Steve Eling says it is their aim to have a 'clear and robust approach' so they can act in a 'timely, co-ordinated and appropriate way'.
The authority already has a protocol for tackling travellers illegally parked on council land, but the new proposals set out changes which they hope will give them more power to remove troublesome camps through the use of common law and injunctions.
Sandwell Council spends an estimated £250,000 a year dealing with illegal encampments and has moved on more than 1,000 caravans in the last two years.
