Traveller chaos

CONCERNED residents are calling for extra security to be installed at a Nailsea park after travellers set up an illegal camp there.People living near the site, off Hawthorn Way, were horrified after a large group of travellers moved onto the land last Thursday afternoon.The convoy, made up of around 12 caravans plus pickup trucks and transits, moved off the site on Monday afternoon after North Somerset Council legal chiefs served them with a notice to quit.The green, which backs onto Spindleberry Road, is a popular spot for children to play and dog walkers and has now been turned into a litter covered quagmire.Bags of rubbish, empty gas canisters, dog faeces and large piles of tree branches have been left strewn across the site. It is understood a small copse at the green was also used as a toilet by the travellers.Now residents want to see measures put in place to stop the travellers, who were believed to come from the Midlands, returning.Resident Geoffrey Steckles, of Spindleberry Road, said: "The whole experience has been very unpleasant."The green has been left in a real mess and the grass has been churned up by the cars and bin bags and rubbish left all across the site."My main concern is what if they come back? "Other residents and I want some assurances from the council about what it is going to do to try and secure the site."Once the word gets around that this is an ideal site for an encampment, then we could be inundated with travellers."Councillor Andy Cole said he had been inundated with calls from concerned local residents.He also said: "Now this site is on their radar, then the travellers could very easily return."There are lots of areas of parkland around Nailsea which could become potential sites and we need to look at ways of protecting these."I will be asking for a meeting between the police, North Somerset Council and the other relevant parties to see how we can protect the town from further invasions."North Somerset Council spokesman Steve Makin said council staff had inspected the site and a clean up of the green would now take place.* As the North Somerset Times went to press, a 20-strong group of travellers had moved on to Marshalls Field in Clevedon. It is believed the group, who turned up on the site at 5.30pm on Monday, cut the lock off the gates to get into the field. Local residents have flooded the council with calls since their arrival, complaining of noise and dogs barking. Clevedon town councillor Trevor Morgan, who lives near Marshalls Field, said: "There are a lot of houses close to this site and this is really affecting them. "There were generators going all night, dogs barking and people already feel intimidated by the group and are refusing to walk their dogs there. "The caravans and trucks are churning up the field and making it a right mess. There is no running water there or loos. It's absolute mayhem.