Travellers are making life ‘hell’ for residents after setting up two camps just one mile apart.
More than 20 caravans and motorhomes were moved on to parkland in the centre of Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire – just yards from the town’s police station and £750,000 Regency homes.
Another camp appeared on Ford’s Fields community park which is around a six minute drive away.
Fed-up residents claim the travellers at Royal Leamington Spa removed steel barriers installed to protect the park opposite – Jephson Gardens.
Travellers arrived on Saturday and despite council officials visiting the site, the caravans remain unmoved.
Photographs show adults sunbathing and relaxing in garden chairs while children chase around in the warm weather.
Residents fear the park is seen as a prime spot for illegal traveller camps.
One local said: ‘The barriers were placed on the park to stop exactly this from happening but the travellers have proved it’s no deterrent.
‘Leamington is rich in parks and what we fear is the town will be seen as a soft touch for traveller camps.
‘People say they don’t stay very long so what’s the fuss but word spreads so once this group move on, another group will just turn up.’
More than 20 caravans and motorhomes were moved on to parkland in the centre of Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire – just yards from the town’s police station and £750,000 Regency homes
Fed-up residents claim the travellers at Royal Leamington Spa removed steel barriers installed to protect the park opposite – Jephson Gardens
Travellers arrived on Saturday and despite council officials visiting the site, the caravans remain unmoved
Another resident, who lives nearby, said: ‘All who say they aren’t doing harm, just remember the council have to clean the site when they have gone which is taxpayer money.’
One elderly resident fumed: ‘Since we moved to Leamington 20 years ago, almost every green space is taken over at some stage by travellers.
‘It’s just not right that people living lawfully and paying taxes should expect to pick up the bill for groups of people who believe they are somehow above the law. The rubbish these people leave is awful too.
‘Travellers have made this beautiful town hell.’
The travellers have pitched just 400m (1,312ft) away from Warwickshire Justice Centre on Newbold Terrace, which includes a police station and the law courts.
Despite the proximity to law makers, Warwickshire Police say they have not taken action and say it is a council matter.
Locals living nearby Ford’s Field reported seeing huge bonfires and barbecues being lit each night since the travellers arrived.
Warwick District Council say they have been ordered to move from the site by today or face further action.
A spokesperson said: ‘The Council has served a Notice of Direction on the unauthorised encampment at Newbold Terrace East, Leamington Spa, requiring the occupants to leave by Thursday 30 April.
‘If they fail to vacate then the Council will apply for a court order to obtain possession of the land.
‘This is a separate unauthorised encampment to the one at Fords Fields, Leamington Spa for which our solicitors have commenced legal proceedings to obtain possession of the land.
‘The Council has supplied refuse bins to both sites and will continue to monitor the areas with partners including Warwickshire Police.’
A police spokesperson said: ‘We were made aware of an unauthorised encampment on Newbold Terrace East in Leamington shortly before 8.30pm on Saturday (25 April).
‘Officers are engaging with them and working with our partners at Warwick District Council at this time.’
It comes after a series of ‘land grabs’ by travellers across the UK in recent weeks, including Alford in Surrey, Sundridge in Kent, Burpham in Guildford and Flamstead in Hertfordshire.
‘All hell’ descended on the sleepy home county village of Alford on April 2, when the group transformed a rural field into a 17-plot ‘gated community’.
Another camp appeared on Ford’s Fields community park which is around a six minute drive away
Locals living nearby Ford’s Field reported seeing huge bonfires and barbecues being lit each night since the travellers arrived
They began building works and even unveiled a sign for a new ‘illegal’ farm less than a week after arriving.
In Sundridge, around 30 lorries arrived over the Easter weekend and dumped piles of rubble on a grassed area.
Diggers and machinery rolled in under the cover of darkness before workers flattened the jumbled masonry into a hardstanding caravan site while council offices remained closed.
One livid resident tried to stop the encroachment but was arrested and led away by police. He was released later the same day.
Traveller families, including one with young children, started to move onto the site on Easter Sunday.
Meanwhile, residents in Burpham were left furious after woodland was chopped down to create an encampment off a quiet country lane over Easter weekend.
Men wearing hi-vis jackets were seen installing a gate and fences – with drone images showing overgrowth and trees replaced by hardstanding inside the site.
In Flamstead, police had to launch an investigation into alleged threatening behaviour, criminal damage and the illegal felling of trees at a travellers site that appeared overnight in a quiet Hertfordshire village on April 2.
Villagers watched as they drove machinery onto green belt land before the first batch of caravans started arriving a few days later.
