Travellers ordered to quit Myton Fields by police - Warwickshire

From the Courier

Travellers who illegally occupied Myton Fields all left the site yesterday (Thursday) morning after police served an order on them.

Some of the residents whose rear gardens backed onto the fields were left badly shaken when 11 caravans suddenly 
appeared last weekend.

One man found himself surrounded by five barking dogs who rushed up to him as he walked across the ground off Myton Road. Another woman had a fire lit right against her garden fence and when she rang the police was advised to keep her eye on it and call the fire brigade if it got out of hand.

Other neighbours rang about the noise from generators running all night and a quad bike being driven around the fields by children. None of the residents wanted to be identified because they felt intimidated by the Travellers on their doorsteps. The council has already identified several possible permanent sites in the revised district plan.

The man who found himself surrounded by the dogs, said: “They were angry and guarding the land until one of the Travellers came along and called them off.

“Fortunately I knew not to run as that would have antagonised the dogs even more and they would have certainly attacked me.

“I hate to think what would have happened if my young grandaughter had been with me - I’d only just taken her to school.”

The 68-year-old added: “I’ve no problem with recognised sites for Gypsies and Travellers but it’s wrong for them just to be able to settle on any spare parks and fields.”

PC Trent McMurray, who served the Section 61 Orders on the Travellers on Wednesday afternoon, said unless there were any welfare issues, all were expected to quit the site by yesterday morning.

Yesterday (Thurs) PC McMurray added: “There were originally 11 caravans but that dropped to eight by Wednesday. If those eight families had not left by this morning we would have brought in recovery trucks to tow their vans away as the fields were required for other events over the weekend.”