Gypsy caravan given notice to leave after setting up camp on Hunstanton Green - Norfolk

From Lynn News

A “true” Gypsy who has been visiting Hunstanton for more than a decade was served notice to leave after setting up camp on a garden .

Tom and Sue Savage pulled their traditional horse-drawn caravan onto The Green on Thursday last week after their usual spot had been re-developed into a garden.

Mr Savage was issued with a notice to leave the land by West Norfolk Council and the police later that evening.

The couple have been calling in on Hunstanton during their tour of the Norfolk coast for 15 years and usually spend a few nights on a site near the Tesco store in Southend Road.

But since their last visit the area had been transformed into garden.

Mr Savage said: “Hunstanton has been welcoming me here for 15 years but now they have taken up that space so I can’t move on so I pulled onto The Green.

“ I was there four weeks ago and there wasn’t an issue.

“The public here are really behind me.

“I am very upset about it.”

The couple tour the coastline giving talks and also selling pegs and walking sticks along the way.

Mr Savage, who features on the front cover of the latest Hunstanton Town and Around magazine, said council officials and police spoke to him at 3.40pm on Thursday with a notice being issued at about 8pm.

Mr Savage was determined not to move on from the town until Sunday.

He said: “At the weekend there are a lot of people about and I do speeches for the children about my ancestors.

“I was told that the In Bloom judges were in Hunstanton at 10am on Friday.”

A council spokesman said no further action was being taken against Mr Savage.

In a statement the council says: “As soon as we were made aware of the encampment on The Green in Hunstanton, officers visited the site and undertook a welfare assessment.

“A notice to leave the land was issued giving a reasonable timeframe for the Traveller to move on.

“He failed to comply with the notice, so, following due process, the wheels were set in motion to obtain a court order as the council is unable to tolerate unauthorised encampments on public amenity land such as The Green.

“The Traveller has now moved on, so no further action is required.”

West Norfolk is a popular destination for Travellers.

But in August last year, more than 20 vehicles parked up on Tuesday Market Place forcing police to issue enforcement notices.