BARRIERS should be put in place to stop illegal traveller encampments on a leisure centre according to campaigners.

Labour’s candidates for next year's council elections in Rixton and Woolston, Chris Vobe, Andrew Hill and Pat Wright, spoke out after travellers moved onto Woolston Neighbourhood Hub earlier this week..

Multiple caravans gathered on the fields next to the car park.

The trio have now written to senior officers at the Town Hall and LiveWire with a call for action.

In a joint statement, they said: “This latest incident is one of a number of illegal traveller encampments that we have seen in the Woolston community. Travellers sited at the neighbourhood hub failed to adhere to a Section 77 notice, which has necessitated the council applying for a court order to remove them from the field adjacent to the car park.

“All of this is eating into the public purse at a time when money is tight.

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“There are simple measures that the council can take to put a stop to further incursions at the neighbourhood hub. Height restriction barriers at both entrances to the car park would allow users of the leisure centre to go about their business, but would prevent caravans and larger vehicles from being able to access either the car park or the fields adjacent to the site.

“The benefit of installing height restriction barriers would far outweigh the money that is currently being spent removing illegal encampments. Residents nearby are rightly concerned at the impact of traveller incursions in the surrounding community.

“The last time an encampment settled in Woolston, we were assured that preventative measures would be looked into by council officers. So far, no progress has been made. We are now asking the borough council and LiveWire to work with the community to progress this as a matter of urgency.”