TRAVELLERS who have set up camps around Dudley borough are expected to move off their current site in Kingswinford later today (Thursday, September 29).

Residents have had to bear the brunt of the travellers this week after a group moved onto Cot Lane's playing fields last Friday.

Dudley Council is in court this morning in a bid to gain an order to force the travellers – who have already been moved on from Wordsley’s King George V Park and football pitches in Withymoor – to leave the site.

And Councillor Paul Brothwood, leader of the borough’s UKIP group, said expects them to be gone later today.

He told the News: “I’ve heard that the travellers are about to go on the move and I’m trying to get to Cot Lane as quickly as I can.

“Our worry now is where they are going to go to next. I was trying to follow them around in the early hours of this morning, but it is impossible to guess.

“The council’s site at Ham Lane is full and we have concerns about Holy Trinity Church and many of the green spaces around Wordsley and Kingswinford.”

The Wordsley councillor echoed the calls from the borough’s Tory leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, for police to “step up” and remove the travellers from the area, brandishing Dudley a “lawless borough”.

Cllr Brothwood said: “I’m really disappointed in the police and council officers, as it feels like a lawless borough at present.

“It’s taking far too long and I am very disappointed in the Police and Crime Commissioner who should be instructing his officers to remove them as soon as possible.

“I was with residents until one o’clock this morning, but it shouldn't be up to them or us as councillors to take a lead on this. Some elderly residents are genuinely scared.

“We’ve had human faeces left smeared on the play area, cars and vans are being raced all over the park, local businesses are being robbed, vans are being broken into; it is unacceptable and the Police and Crime Commissioner needs to step up and do something about it.

“Residents are fed up with what is going on and it needs to be stopped.”

Dudley Council has applied for a borough-wide possession order to try and stop travellers moving from site to site across Dudley. Their court bid, however, was rejected – leaving Dudley officials little option but to apply for separate court orders every time caravans appear on a new patch of land.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: “The actions that have been reported are truly disgusting and have no place in the West Midlands.

“This sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. People have rightly raised this issue with me and I will be meeting with the force to specifically talk about the issue of travellers next week.

“West Midlands Police are working on a long-term solution – Section 61 is not the be-all-and-end-all. For example, ill-thought-out use could result in travellers simply moving to another part of the borough.

“I will also be speaking to government to discuss if there are any extra powers that councils and police forces may be granted to deal with these issues.”

Superintendent Phil Dolby, of West Midlands Police, said: “Officers and staff need to strike a balance between the rights of the individual and the rights of the settled community when dealing with gypsies and travellers.

“We are continually striving to establish a clear, professional and multi−agency response to unauthorised encampments and manage such issues in an efficient and effective way, in conjunction with our local authority partners.

“We appreciate it can be frustrating for people living nearby and I want to reassure the public that work is going on behind the scenes - and the time it takes to resolve the issue is not down to a lack of action by ourselves or councils.”