TRAVELLERS who set up an illegal camp in Oldbury have been moved on within hours of arriving.

On Monday evening (June 11), caravans began gathering on the car park of the closed down Toys R Us store at Birchley Island, before moving to Lion Farm Playing Fields nearby.

By 8pm there were more than 20 caravans at the site.

Sandwell Council said its environmental protection team attended the scene along with council directors and officers from West Midlands Police.

A section 62 notice was issued by police officers against the group which would have allowed them to physically remove caravans and vehicles and make arrests after they refused to move to the council’s transit site.

The majority of the group left immediately and the remaining vans had left by first thing Tuesday morning – less than 14 hours after arriving.

The group are now banned from the borough for three months.

Councillor Paul Moore, cabinet member for regeneration and investment, said: “Yet again we’ve worked with the police to move this travelling group on from Sandwell.

"We’ve already cut the time unauthorised encampments spend in Sandwell and the cost of clearing up after them by 95 per cent.

“We are committed to protecting our land and residents from the disruption caused by unauthorised encampments.”

The council has brought in a number of measures to discourage and move on groups who set up camp at the borough’s parks, open spaces and on business premises.

In 2016/17, travelling groups spent 577 days camped in the borough while the police and council used bailiffs and the court process to move them on.

But in the past 12 months, this was reduced to just 33 days.

The cost of dealing with unauthorised encampments – particularly the fly-tipping and damage left in the aftermath – fell by 96 per cent in the same period, from £252,000 to £10,000.

Cllr Moore added: “We’re doing a range of things to tackle the issue which, when you put them all together, have drastically reduced the problems we were having in Sandwell.

"We’ve worked hard to secure our parks and green spaces to stop caravans getting on there in the first place.

“And we have a team of people who spring into action when we do have an encampment turn up.

“We’ve had huge success with the way we’re doing things in Sandwell and now other authorities across the Black Country and beyond are taking a lead from us on dealing with the issue.”