WYCHAVON District Council is hoping to try and prevent gypsy and traveller communities from illegally moving back onto five sites in Droitwich at a cost of £12,000.

The moves comes after the eventual removal of a traveller camp off Ombersley Way on Monday, October 6, which had already had some unsuccessful measures in place to prevent people moving onto the land.

The council is hoping the measures will be funded with help from Droitwich Town Council and West Mercia Police which are both expected to invest £3,000 each in the project.

Vic Allison, deputy managing director at Wychavon, said: “Whilst it is impossible to make our land 100 per cent inaccessible, we are keen to put more in place to make it even harder for illegal sites to spring up. The Wychavon area has a lot of provision for the gypsy and traveller communities, but illegal sites will not be tolerated, hence our swift legal action when they do occur.

“We’re hoping this investment will enable us to save in the long term as the staff time and clean up costs are substantial.”

Taxpayers already pay thousands of pounds to remove travellers each year in legal costs and clean up, as well as staff time taken to deal with the sites and their impact on local communities.

With regard to the recent camp in Droitwich, Ian Marshall, head of legal and support services at Wychavon, added: “Strong legal action was taken at court on Friday when Worcester County Court granted both applications we made regarding the travellers at Ombersley Way. The orders means that not only have the travellers got to move from their current site, but a further injunction also prevents them from relocating to Addyes Way in Droitwich. The court does not grant these kinds of injunctions lightly and this is a sign of how seriously we both take this illegal site.”