Bid for faster action on illegal Travellers' sites in Hull as caravans move to former Birds Eye factory - Yokshire

From the Hull Daily Mail

Hull City Council is drawing up plans to remove Travellers from illegal sites more quickly.

An inquiry was launched by the council's West Area Committee in the summer after the handling of Travellers on a site off the Boothferry estate.

Despite the council taking court action to have them removed, questions were raised over whether the situation could have been better handled.

Concerns included the time it takes the council to respond to calls concerning travellers turning up on land, the noise and mess left behind and the length of the process to remove Travellers.

A spokesman for the council said: "The West Area Committee suggested a number of recommendations, which were forwarded on to the scrutiny committee.

"That committee has asked for a review of the arrangements.

"This will be reflected in the revision of those procedures, which is under way."

Travellers have been moving from site to site in Hull and the surrounding area in recent months.

Last week, residents complained after a group of Travellers moved near their homes in Cecil Street, off Hawthorn Avenue, west Hull.

The area is currently undergoing regeneration and the houses in Cecil Street have been boarded up, ready for demolition.

But private residents still live in houses near the road and said they have been chased by a loose horse belonging to the group.

The Travellers have now moved to the site of the former Birds Eye factory in Hessle High Road. They arrived on Thursday and there are about half a dozen caravans.

Hull City Council has notified the company. No one from Birds Eye was available to comment on whether it has taken action to have the Travellers removed.