A Nottinghamshire school says it has taken action against a group of travellers who illegally accessed their field. Chilwell School says an unknown person broke the access gate's padlock and so legal action was taken to remove them from the site.
The group had left the site by Friday, August 5 after eviction papers were served the day before. The school says the ordeal took up its staff's time and finances but that they are committed to keeping the field open to the public to use.
Chilwell School said in a statement: "We are aware that there have been a number of social media posts about an encampment on Chilwell School field and concern and opinions in the community. On Wednesday the school became aware that a group of vehicles had gained access to the field after the access gate had been compromised by the padlock being broken by persons unknown.
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"Within a few hours the school had instructed bailiffs in order to serve eviction papers and ensure the vehicles were removed. Papers were served on Thursday and by Friday all vehicles were leaving the site.
"The school has taken this action as the landowners. As a foundation school, we own our land and determine our future. Neither Nottinghamshire County Council nor Broxtowe Borough Council were or would be involved in this matter.
"The school remains committed to ensuring that we are a community service provider and we do not want to seal off access to our extensive playing fields. We know that many community groups enjoy access to the grounds through our partnership with Liberty Leisure who manage our sports facilities in the evenings and weekends.
"We will always act quickly and decisively to protect this resource whilst at the same time trying to ensure that access is not limited excessively. We have a number of public footpaths that border the fields and the public have every right to access these.
"This also means that unfortunately we often have an issue with dogs and dog faeces on our football pitches and long jump area and we would continue to ask dog owners to keep animals to the public footpaths. The events of the past few days have taken up staff time and finances which have been diverted from our core purpose of educating our children.
"However, we will always act swiftly and decisively to ensure that our resources are protected for the ongoing long-term benefit of our community. Thanks are due to the actions of our premises team, staff at Liberty Leisure, the police, the bailiff team and our business manager for clear and determined action."
A spokesperson for Broxtowe Borough Council said previously: "We are aware of an unauthorised encampment at the back of Chilwell School, the representatives of the school have confirmed legal action has commenced to reclaim the site.
"If you witness any criminal activity, please report this to the Police on 101 or if it is an emergency 999."
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