Shropshire Star

Travellers demand £2,000 from owner of Telford land they were trespassing on

A group of travellers were moved on from Telford after demanding £2,000 from the owner of the land where they were camping illegally.

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A stock image of caravans

The travellers arrived at Hortonwood on Monday evening in six caravans and a number of vehicles and were reported to Telford & Wrekin Council by the business owner the following morning.

Officers from the council’s enforcement team, along with West Mercia Police, visited the camp and served the occupants with a ‘Notice to Quit’ document with a deadline of Wednesday morning.

The travellers were offered the opportunity to move onto the council’s transit site under Section 62 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which allows them to stay for up to three months if they pay a deposit and weekly rent.

However the offer of the transit site was turned down and all the travellers left on Tuesday night.

Councillor Richard Overton, cabinet member for enforcement said: “Once again, our officers acted quickly when the encampment was reported to the council.

“As part of our efforts to quickly resolve issues, we offer travellers temporary accommodation at our Transit site which gives them the opportunity to stay somewhere, albeit briefly. It also provides us with a practical solution.”

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