Bailiffs descend on Wolverhampton transit site as illegal encampment grows
Bailiffs have been sent to a traveller transit site in Wolverhampton in a bid to break up an illegal encampment.
Wolverhampton Council said the £455,000 transit site on Gorsebrook Road was "broken into" last Wednesday and occupied by a large group of travellers.
But despite bosses vowing to move them on the camp expanded over the weekend, with residents from nearby streets saying at one point it contained "up to 20 caravans".
The council said bailiffs attended the site on Monday to serve notice on the occupants.
It has also emerged that onsite security – put in place by the council following an earlier break-in which saw barriers removed and locks broken – was removed ahead of the latest incursion.
The taxpayer-funded site opened despite mass public opposition with the intention of deterring travellers from setting up illegal camps in the city.
It has a maximum capacity of 13 caravans plus vehicles, with travellers allowed to stay for up to 14 days at a cost of £100 per week and a £250 deposit.
A nearby resident told the Express & Star: "They have been coming and going all weekend and at one point there must have been 20 caravans on there.
"There was a security guard a few weeks ago but now it is hard to see if there's any security at all."
A Wolverhampton Council spokesperson confirmed bailiffs had attended the site on Monday "to serve notice on the occupants of the encampment".
Regarding security arrangements at the site, the spokesperson added: "There is CCTV at the Gorsebrook Road site and we have increased barrier security as required over time.
"There has not been a requirement for 24-hour security at the site for a number of months, however, following a break-in, we did provide security on site for 48 hours.
"On that occasion barriers had been removed and locks had been broken and we needed to keep the site secure.
"This short-term arrangement was in addition to the existing security which is covered by the council’s designated budget for the site."
It is unclear whether anyone has ever paid to use the site, which opened in September 2021 and lay unused for its first year of existence.
Figures from a Freedom of Information request show that between January 1017 and September 2022 there were 81 unauthorised traveller encampments in Wolverhampton.
Recent sites to be taken over include East Park, Wolverhampton Swimming & Fitness Centre on Planetary Road and the former British Steel site off Qualcast Road.
