A council boss said the authority is “doing everything we can” to evict travellers who set up camp on a football pitch in Redcar.
A convoy of about a dozen caravans moved in on Redcar Athletic’s ground and parked up along the Coast Road fence on Sunday (August 9).
The encampment meant that the football club was forced to cancel all games as a result - with Kirkleatham ward councillor Alec Brown saying he understood the travellers were “on holiday and planned to stay at the site for two weeks”.
Cllr Brown said he had also spoken with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Cleveland Police following reports of vehicles doing 'donuts' on the pitch.
Now, the council has confirmed that an officer has visited the site to begin the eviction process, saying the occupants are on land “deemed to be unacceptable under the terms of our Unauthorised Encampment Procedure”.
Travellers at Redcar Athletic
(Image: Newsquest)
Cllr Alec Brown, leader of the council, said: “We’ve had a number of calls from residents about this and I’d like to assure them, and the whole community, that we are doing everything we can to resolve this situation as quickly as possible while following legal procedures.
“My sympathy is first and foremost with the footballers at Redcar Athletic and their opponents - especially the children’s teams - who want nothing more than to enjoy playing the game.”
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This is the first of two camps set up by travellers in Redcar in the last few days.
Kirkleatham councillor Peter Grogan said he was made aware on Tuesday (August 11) morning that travellers had moved in on Kirkleatham Showground.
This has since been branded “unfortunate and unacceptable”.