Watermoor Primary School in Cirencester to close early today due to large numbers of Travellers expected to attend funeral at Holy Trinity Church - Gloucestershire

From the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard

WATERMOOR Primary School will be closing early today in anticipation of a funeral at nearby Holy Trinity Church that will be attended by a large number of Travellers.

The school will be closing at 12.15pm in order for children to leave the school grounds safely before the funeral in the afternoon.

Alison Pine, chairman of governors at Watermoor Primary School, explained that the school wasn’t closing early because of the presence of Travellers.

She said: “We are expecting a large volume of traffic on the roads and are closing the school early for the children’s own safety.

“A funeral is an extremely sad affair and we offer our condolences to all attending.”

As reported by the Standard yesterday, a large number of Travellers moved onto a piece of land at the Kingshill Sports Complex in Cirencester.

There is thought to be around 70 Travellers on the land with up to 15 caravans on site.

The Travellers, who are from North Yorkshire, are expected to have left the site by the weekend. Deryck Nash, a councillor with Cirencester Town Council, said: “I have spoken with Andrew Tubb and we have given them permission to stay on the land until Saturday, although I have been told they’ll be gone before then.

"We have asked them to keep clear of the football pitches and they have agreed to that.

CTC has also said that the Travellers will not interfere with the development of a skate park that is due to be built on the land.

Nobody from the group of Travellers was willing to comment.