TRAVELLERS have repeated calls for a permanent home in Warrington after being ejected from their latest campsite.

More than a dozen caravans and vans entered The Twiggery, off Farrell Street, despite determined attempts by council engineers to secure the field, including barriers and earth mounds.

Travellers spokesman Eddie Smith said the group was all members of an extended family, originally from Stoke, and before arriving at Farrell Street had set up camp at various locations around Warrington.

He believed a permanent transit site, featuring refuse, water and electricity services, where travellers could stay for a week or two at a time, was the answer to continued controversy over gypsies and travellers in the town.

Mr Smith told the GUARDIAN: "If we were given a skip we would keep the place spotless, it would be a lot better. We wouldn't mind paying £20 rent per week for a bit of comfort."

Other permanent caravan sites are available in the region but they are either full or cannot accommodate large parties, he explained.

A Town Hall spokesman said the caravans and vans constituted an illegal encampment on council land and an order was obtained to move the travellers on.

The caravans, which had been stationed at The Twiggery for nearly a week, are believed to have left the field in the early hours of Wednesday morning, before an 8am deadline.

Council leader John Gartside said a permanent site was being explored but it was no longer a statutory requirement.

"However a permanent site will not solve the problem of economic travellers because they come in far greater numbers than such a site could accommodate," said Clr Gartside, stressing the council has never had a problem with traditional gypsies.

He added: "Constructing such a site would need space for 35 or 40 caravans and that would not be viable.

"If these economic travellers are very keen on staying in Warrington then what is to stop them applying for some kind of residence."

Meanwhile residents have attended a public meeting at Crosfield's Club hosted by developers behind a proposed base for showmen at Station Approach, Great Sankey.

The outline application by the Silcock fairground family, for land near Sankey station, includes space for 30 caravans and is intended as an out-of-season retreat for workers.

Nearby resident Shirley Brown, of Orrell Close, said there had been a number of failed attempts to redevelop the land, all of which had failed because of traffic difficulties.

She said: "The access to Station Approach is not more than the size of a lorry and it is in a bad state of repair and Station Road itself is so congested by traffic at the moment. It is really ridiculous."

Neighbours were convinced there was not enough space for 30 extra vehicles, added Mrs Brown.

"It all needs talking about and people are a little bit upset about it, naturally," she said.

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