TRAVELLERS who have turned up on a Burnley recreation ground claim they are en route to a ‘religious festival’ in Accrington.
Council bosses are set to seek a court order to remove about 20 vehicles which have set up camp on Stoneyholme Rec, off Rectory Road.
Just yards from the former household waste site and in the shadow of the Burnley College and UClan campus, the travellers are believed to have moved unhindered on to the land from the roadway.
The area, which has been the subject of major clearance work over the past year, has been earmarked for the forthcoming Burnley Knowledge Park, which received planning permission last year.
Town hall officials and Lancashire Police were in discussions with travellers’ leaders throughout yesterday.
A Burnley Council spokesman said: “There are around 20 vehicles and they have told us they were en route to a religious ceremony in Accrington.
“We are now discussing with our baliffs what would be the best way of obtaining a court order to obtain possession of the land.”
Several recent Travellers encampments have sprouted up on public-owned land in Burnley in recent months.
Parts of Towneley Park have been a favourite haunt, especially the spare land at the back of the City Learning Centre car park.
Another group of French travellers ended up on the Centenary Way car park just over a week ago after a vehicle broke down on an expedition to Scotland.
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