Travellers have set up camp in the grounds of a former Willenhall primary school after allegedly forcing their way through locked gates to enter the site.

Around seven caravans descended on the former Lakeside Primary School in Holman Close on Saturday.

Police were called to the scene on the same day but were unable to take action as officers couldn’t raise environmental officers at Walsall Council – a situation which was criticised by councillors and residents today.

Residents claim the travellers broke through locked gates to enter the grounds and have called for Walsall Council and the police to take action.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “The police were there quite quickly. I would like to see the council and police deal with this issue quickly.”

The school closed at the end of the summer term.

Dr Judith Sunley, head of public protection at Walsall Council, said: “The matter is well in hand. “We will be carrying out an assessment on this site.”

However, critics attacked Walsall Council for failing to have out-of-hours staff on duty who could have helped shift travellers who set up camp at a former Willenhall school.

The authority hadn’t got any staff on duty at the weekend to help police deal with the problem.

As a result, this has delayed the eviction process.

Councillor Sean Coughlan said something needed to be done to deal with similar issues in the future.

He said: “An out-of-hours on-call service needs to be set up to deal with issues like this. The travellers entered the site on Saturday.

“The police tried to contact environmental officers at Walsall Council so they could be in attendance and take action.

“An out-of-hours on-call service needs to be set up as a priority to ensure action can be taken swiftly is this happens again.

“Environmental officers are on site today to deal with the problem but this could have been nipped in the bud quickly if the council had someone available to react at the weekend.

“Legal representations need to be made which could take time. I will certainly be making representations for this service to be introduced.”