Taxpayer to foot the bill for clean up as Travellers leave enormous piles of waste behind in Brogborough - Bedfordshire

From Bedfordshire On Sunday

TRAVELLERS have left behind what looks to be tonnes of rubbish at Brogborough Lake after illegally occupying the land for three weeks.

This was the scene in Brogborough yesterday after the group, travelling in 30 caravans, left the area around the lake and the slip-road near to where the A421 meets the M1.

It is understood the gypsies and Travellers had been in the area for three weeks, although Central Bedfordshire Council said it only believed they had arrived on Monday, March 3.

On Friday, March 14 they were given a removal notice to vacate the land within 24 hours. This was ignored and so the authority proceeded with court action to remove them, with a hearing held at Bedford Magistrates' Court yesterday. However by the time of the court hearing the Travellers had already disappeared.

Last Friday a spokesman for the council said: "We have followed statutory legislation in regard to moving the Travellers on. We issued removal notices for the three sites, giving the Travellers 24 hours to leave. The notices were not complied with and we have now moved to the next stage in the process where will seek to gain permission from the Court to serve an Order for Removal of Persons and Vehicles. If the court agrees to this we will appoint bailiffs to evict the Travellers from the three sites."

Questions are now being raised about why more was not done to remove the group before they had the chance to leave the area in such a mess and how much this will cost the taxpayer to clean up.

Speaking to Bedfordshire on Sunday, Brogborough resident Alan Thomas said: "The site is a disgusting mess of rubbish, litter and grime. They have turned the area into a bomb site. It will cost thousands of pounds to clear this site and questions need to be asked as to who is going to pay and how do they constantly get away with destroying our countryside."

Another resident, Mike Davis said: "Someone will have to pay for this and it has been allowed to go on for too long. It is sheer destruction of the environment. Brogborough is an important place for bird watching and attracts people from all over the country but to see all that going on is disgusting."

A response from Central Bedfordshire Council is expected later today.