Tonne of waste removed from Kirkby park as travellers evicted from site

Travellers set up camp at West Park – but were moved on by Ashfield Council which said it received “reports from local residents who could no longer use the park and said they felt unsafe”.

The council issued a a Notice to Leave to the travellers from day one, which came into effect on May 23.

The council said that during this time, the area “saw a significant rise in anti-social behaviour, the council claims, with residents and business seeing a spike in incidents which caused some to close early”.

The council’s environment team moved quickly after the removal of the encampment to clean the area, removing more than a tonne of waste from the site.

New locks have now been installed at the park and residents are reminded to report unlawful activity using the 101 service or alternatively by contacting the council’s community protection team using the online portal, Ashfield 24-7. at ashfield.gov.uk/your-council/report

Coun Jason Zadrozny, council leader, said: “Thanks to swift work from the police and our team we have successfully moved the group on and residents can now use the park safely again.

“We will not tolerate this behaviour in our district and will take the same approach in future incidents.

“I would like to thank our Environment Team who went above and beyond, removing over a tonne of waste from the site while still maintaining the council’s day to day services.”