Surge in traveller camps hits county

The most recent in Warwick district was a massive encampment of 60 vehicles on land off Macbeth Approach in Warwick Gates last Thursday,

The camp, which stretched across two fields, was partly made up of travellers who had recently left St Mary’s Road in Sydenham.

The county council’s gypsy and traveller service officer Rob Leahy said the sheer size of the encampment made it difficult for a landowner to find enough bailiffs to move them on, and for police to monitor any eviction.

He said: “The past month and a half has been quite unprecedented for Warwickshire - we have had so many caravans on the side of the road.”

• Read Friday’s Courier for the full story.