After travellers broke into a Leeds playing field, seemingly trashed portaloos and left a mess, it has cost around £1,900 for the clean up alone.
Leeds City Council was called a "joke" after failing to provide an adequate barrier and/or deterrent to stop travellers from targeting Red Hall Playing Fields, near Shadwell and Scarcroft, which has seen multiple illegal camps. An angry resident called it an "an absolute terrible fiasco".
The travellers eventually left the site on Monday, August 29, after camping there for about a week and half. The wooden barrier was seen sawn through and chucked on the ground.
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After travellers were seen defecating in the bushes, the council provided portaloos which were then seen tipped over and vandalised. A court summons was issued for the camp to leave and a nearby Esso petrol station helped the city council with their enquiries.
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We are actively looking into measures to strengthen the entrance barrier to the site to help deter future encampments.
“Following the courts granting of the possession order, the bailiffs attend the site to enforce this. The bailiffs have attended on Tuesday and the group have vacated. We have instructed the team who carries out the clean-up operation to start work on this. The team normally attend and complete the work within 2 days.
“The clean-up costs from the previous encampment was £1,900 and we estimate this would be a similar cost. We hope that any further measures to strengthen the point of entry will deter any further disruption and we will continue to act within our legal framework to ensure that encampments are dealt with as swiftly as possible.”
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