Travellers pitch up at Wolverhampton's East Park

More than a dozen caravans arrived in East Park on Wednesday and were spotted by park visitors on Thursday morning.

The caravans were dispersed across the grassy area of the park, with vehicles parked up alongside them.

Ross Cook, Wolverhampton council’s service director for city environment, said: “A group of approximately 16 caravans set up camp on a field within East Park.

“Members of our public protection team have been down to the park to ascertain the situation and replace padlocks which were damaged when the gates were forced. We are encouraging the police to seek the eviction of the travellers.”

The news comes after travellers took over a playing field along Proud's Lane, Bilston, earlier this month

The travellers damaged fencing and bollards, according to ward councillor, Phil Page.

Back in February, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson held a summit to look at the problem of travellers across the region.

He was hoping to find a regional solution to end the problem of travellers being moved on from one area just to set up another illegal camp in another.

The summit, which was attended by MPs, other PCCs, senior police officers, council officials and members of the travelling community, heard how the number of unauthorised sites in the West Midlands has risen from 189 to 395 since 2011.

Mr Jamieson came up with a five-point ‘action plan’ following the meeting in an attempt to try to combat the problem.