Why the Net has the advantage in the ‘Undies world’
- Shopping blogger Emma Iannarilli
Anger as travellers invade fields
Thursday 9th August 2007, 11:15AM BST.
Travellers have set up camp on playing fields popular with children near Wolverhampton city centre.
Around 25 caravans and vehicles are parked on John Roberts Playing Fields in Ward Street, Ettingshall. The convoy is believed to have moved onto the site on Thursday.
One pensioner, who lives nearby but asked not to be named, said today: “It is a lovely open space for the public with some play equipment for children and that is what it should be used for.
“Now it is a no-go zone. I just hope, when they are moved off, they don’t leave all kinds of mess behind.”
Council chiefs have now started court proceedings to get the travellers evicted.
Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Tim Clark said: “We have a court date on Tuesday to seek an eviction order with a target of an eviction by the following day.”
Travellers have pitched up at numerous locations in the Black Country since the turn of the year, often leaving a trail of mess and clean-up bills of thousands of pounds for taxpayers.
A group first pulled onto the former GKN factory site in Lanesfield on February 22 before moving over the road to the old Texaco filling station.
The same convoy moved to the car parks of Mecca and B&Q on the industrial park in Bilston, then onto land next to Parkfield Bilston High School, followed by the car park of Staples in Willenhall.
In recent weeks a camp was set up at the disused Heath Town Leisure Centre, where residents reported a bare knuckle boxing match to police which descended into a mass brawl. Trouble then continued at New Cross Hospital’s accident and emergency department.
Sites in Moxley and Oldbury have also been invaded.
At the end of last month, travellers were again booted off the car park of Mecca Bingo in Bilston but infuriated the authorities by moving 200 yards down the road to the B&Q car park
Bailiffs ordered the eight caravans and motorhomes off the site but they camped outside the DIY store until being moved on again.
By Nick Pritchard
Sponsored Links
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
Get them off and out of the area now before they completely trash the place.
There are hundreds of stories of these so called ‘travellers’ destroying areas and getting away with it.
We have to pay the costs of the destruction so do something now. Kick ‘em out!
Report abuse
WE WOULD REMOVE OURSELF IF THEY GAVE US HOME OF OUR OWN?????
Report abuse
Sorry Price … what do you mean “if they gave us a home of our own ??”
Why should anyone give you anything ?? If you want it then do what the rest of us do and WORK for it !!
Thats the problem with certain parts of society thinking they should be given something !!
Report abuse
Price, are you one of the lazy, uneducated, tax-dodging scum? If so, would you mind explaining why ‘they’ should give you anything? Are you completely unable to wipe your own backside? The majority of people in this country abide by the law, work for a living, and manage to live a reasonable life. Why are you so different as to expect to be given it on a plate?
Report abuse
So Price, did you find some hotspot to hook up into and take that internet connection for free, without asking the owners too?
Everyone else pays so why shouldn’t you. If you and your bunch didn’t impact every environment they descended upon then I guess the majority of us wouldnt care.
Report abuse
Price is a fake, nearly all travellers cant read or write, let alone access the internet
Report abuse
These people are like a boil on the backside of society,as they are evicted estimate the cost of clearing the site of the rubbish they leave behind and confiscate cars/caravans to cover the cost.
Report abuse
They should make them clean up their own mess, like everyone else has to, and impound their caravans until they do! But, I guess its their ‘human rights’ to make as much mess as they want. So, where are our ‘human rights’ as tax payers? I certainly do not wish for my hard earned money to go towards cleaning up after them. I would prefer it to go to education, hospitals, building of more prisons etc!
Report abuse
Price, what are you on about?
give you a home of your own? have you ever paid income tax? council tax? or paid for anything.
im sick of hearing of “travellers” coming onto private property and leaving it in ruins.
Once “travellers” arrive the area becomes a no go zone, with filthy children running around along with crazed dogs. Teenagers causing trouble with local people and stealing from local shops.
Forget court dates, thats a waste of tax payers money. An eviction notice is not required, the owners of the land have every right to employ private security personnel to remove by reasonable force people who trespass and cause criminal damage to private property.
Oh and by the way, people in the local area would not like their driveways doing.
I had a total scruff turn up at my house on a Sunday morning waking me up asking if I wanted the drive doing, Im not one for bad language, but after Id finished I think he’d learned a few new words.
The only places that need re-surfacing are the ones where people like this have just been.
Report abuse
Price, I pitty you and your fellow scroungers. You don’t live my friend, you merely exist….to the cost and annoyance of the rest of society.
Why you believe that ‘they’ should give ‘you’ anything is mind boggling and just shows the lack of intelligence people like you have. To start paying into the tax system like the rest of us would be a good first step towards being entitled to anything. However, and I don’t meant to frighten you, that would probably mean working for a living. And no, I don’t have any bloody tat!
Report abuse
Anybody got any positive views on travellers? Or just the usual small minded RACIST comments!
Report abuse
i remember a few years back when they took up camp down the bottom of the road by Morrisons in Bilston. They left the place in a terrible state, with gas canisters and rubbish left anywhere. As it was the quickest way to get to town I had to walk through them all and they absolutley terrified me. How dare they when I am one of the ppl who pays taxes and has to work in order to live?
Report abuse
I do work for my supper but I don’t pay taxes living out here in the desert. However I don’t want to see the mess these people make and I don’t want my friends and neighbours in the Midlands who do pay taxes to clear up after these people.
Report abuse
Care to elaborate Charlie on the positive views of travellers? You can hardly call us racist for criticizing travellers that run amock around the midlands leaving a mess wherever they go!! Who is it that has to clean up after them? Its the poor blighters that live in the area!
Report abuse
I’m afraid Charlie’s ill-considered response is typical of the ignorant PC brigade, and all too common these days. Perhaps Charlie, you would like to elaborate on why we are being racist?
The ethnicity of the ‘travellers’ is not an issue. The disgusting mess they create is. The antisocial behaviour is. The crime is. The fact that us honest tax payers foot the bill is.
I trust this clarifies things Charlie.
Report abuse
Two words – ‘tow truck’
Tow the caravans all away and impound them, rather than going to all the trouble of evicting the travellers just for them to move onto a site 200 yards further down. Financial penalities might shift them sooner… and recoup money to be spent on the damage they’ve caused.
Either that or have a designated travellers’ site.
Report abuse
Where are they expected to live? Travellers have been around for centuries. I agree the mess left behind costs the council thousands of pounds along with the cost of getting court orders to have them evicted. It’s about time there was some forward thinking in respect of providing adequate provision for travelling families by way of an addtional site, or by providing a skip for when they pull onto land to reduce the cost of the clean up. So Mr C my response was well considered. Some people can think outside the box!
Report abuse