Travellers' sites misery for Telford firms as four locations taken over in week - Shropshire

From the Shropshire Star

Travellers have pitched up at four locations in Telford in less than a week.

Their tour of the town has angered company leaders, who say they are blocking up vital business parks.

Caravans had today set up home on Halesfield 5, next to the offices of Rex Stevens Transport Ltd on Stafford Park.

It comes in a week in which they have created four separate illegal camps. Rex Stevens director James Stevens said action needed to be taken to prevent the arrival of the Travellers.

He said: “It’s always Telford. Travellers currently roll around between the same places so much you get to recognise the vehicles. If the police put more pressure on them the moment they turned up I am sure they would leave Telford and find somewhere else. But they know they’ve got two weeks before it goes to court so they just push it until then.”

On Monday morning, workers at Alumasc in Halesfield 19 arrived to find the barrier to their staff car park had been taken down and caravans were parked across their spaces.

Mac Harwood, operations manager at the company, said the travelling community had been frequenting the car park since February of this year, running up massive legal costs to have them evicted, and costs to clean up the site once they have left.

Alex Casewell, from neighbouring company Pelloby, said the Travellers’ presence was damaging local businesses, adding: “ We cannot sustain this continued level of gross intrusion and the effects it has on our local business.

“The clean up costs alone are running into several thousands of pounds, not to mention the damage to property, gates and fences that are ripped apart to gain unlawful entry. The law needs changing in order to protect the employers, their valued workforce and the contracts awarded that keep industrial cogs going round.”

On Tuesday, a separate camp was set up on the roadside, close to Stafford Park 12.

During that evening, the Travellers from the Alumasc car park were moved on by police and bailiffs, but took up residence on the Ironbridge Park and Ride station, causing difficulties for tourists yesterday who were left with nowhere to park.

Telford & Wrekin Council is currently seeking planning permission for a temporary transit site for Travellers in the borough. It also wants to extend an existing permanent site at Lodge Road.

Council spokesman Russell Griffin said: “This will hopefully reduce the impact of some of the illegal encampments within the borough. We are working closely with the police to ensure that any illegal sites on public land are moved on as quickly as they can be, but this can sometimes take several weeks if we have to go via the county courts.

“The council has no powers over Traveller encampments on private land, as with the current Halesfield 5 settlement, but will offer advice and guidance to the landowner/ occupier were necessary.”