Travellers cause "chaos" in Liskeard - Cornwall

From the Cornish Guardian

CRIME has risen since a convoy of Travellers forced their way on to a farm in Liskeard, say local police.

A police inspector has criticised Cornwall Council, the landowner, for the slow pace of action to move the group off the field at South Treviddo Farm, Horningtops, where they arrived last Tuesday.

Inspector Tony Joslin confirmed some crimes had risen since the travellers' arrival.

"I've seen an increase in the levels of some types of crime – minor thefts I'd attribute to people from the site," he said. Two dog kennels were stolen from Pets At Home and later recovered from the site, "but proving who has done that is impossible".

There had been several other incidents involving members of the group, he said. Police had been called to deal with an incident of antisocial behaviour at Morrisons and an incident at Lux Park where a group came in wanting to use the showers.

"They're not big incidents, but for the local people trying to deal with them it raises a big sense of alarm," he said.

This is the third time in four years travellers have occupied the land, owned by Cornwall Council and rented by a local farmer.

Inspector Joslin criticised the council for the length of time taken to initiate action, saying police were powerless to move the group on until the council formally issued notice to quit: "We then have powers to serve them with a notice for them to quit, but we can't do that until the notice has been made. This isn't an exceptional incident. I'd have expected we'd have been in a position to serve the notice yesterday."

After notice was served police then had to set an acceptable timeframe for the Travellers to move off the site, generally 48 hours.

One villager, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the whole community had been on tenterhooks since the group turned up.

"The Travellers are here again causing chaos, mess and upsetting local people and the environment," he said. "The mess is unbelievable. There are dogs running around and litter has been left everywhere.

"What the tenant farmer's going through, God only knows. They have a complete disregard for local life."

A council spokesman said it might be a few days yet before any decision was taken.

It was monitoring the situation closely and carrying out welfare assessments.

"We are keen to resolve the matter quickly in co-ordination with Devon and Cornwall Police," he said. "We will be working with our partners and the police to make a decision as to the most appropriate course of action within the next few days."