Landowner seeks legal action to remove Travellers - Berkshire

From the Twyford Advertiser

A furious landowner says he has been forced to take his own legal action to remove Travellers illegally camped on his land after police and council officers said they were powerless to help.

Eric Jarnet, (pictured) 76, who lives with his wife Teresita behind Countrywide Stores just off the A4, fears he may be forced to shell out thousands to evict the unwanted visitors and clear up the site once they have been moved on.

Police have said they can't get involved as the group is too small and there has been no 'disorder' while Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) said the matter was out of its jurisdiction because the travellers were camped on private land.

Travellers destroyed Mr Jarnet’s pick your own fruit farm on the same site 10 years ago and he spent £5,000 clearing up the mess they left behind.

The new arrivals, which include three children, moved their six caravans onto the privately owned fields on Monday.

They told the former farmer they planned to move on within a week, but he decided to pay £100 to apply for an injunction at Reading County Court yesterday.

"This has to stop, we can’t have a situation where they break onto people’s land and there is no jurisdiction to remove them," said Mr Jarnet, who used to supply fruit and vegetables to supermarkets.

"I had a heart attack four years ago and this sort of thing could bring another one on."

WBC's Traveller enforcement officer has offered advice to Mr Jarnet and also spoken with the families this week.

The officer said there is nothing, such as ill health, which should prevent them from being moved on. He also gave them rubbish bags to keep the area tidy.

Gaining an injunction can take a few days or more than a month. It depends on the circumstances of the travellers and the availability of judges and solicitors. The travellers are usually given between seven and 28 days to leave.

A police spokesman said: "There have been no reports of disorder at the location and it is not believed there are more than six vehicles.

"Police have the powers to move trespassers on from land if there has been any damage to land or property, or any threatening, abusive, insulting words used towards the owner; or those people have six or more vehicles on the land."

This week police removed travellers from school land in Norrey's Estate, Wokingham.