Residents claim ‘moral victory’ after travellers are moved on from park

Police were called after eight caravans moved onto the park on the city’s plush Victoria Dock estate after bollards designed to prevent access were pulled up.

Neighbours said officers told them there was nothing they could do as it was council land and left, only to return a short time later as more people gathered outside.

The stand-off eventually finished around 11pm when the travellers, who said they were on their to Scarborough, left. In their wake they had left a pile of waste wood, which was being cleared by council workmen yesterday morning.

A resident said at one point a woman parked her car across the gap to prevent more caravans getting onto the field.

She said: “A lot of people who came down were dads from the football team. The police said they would leave on Sunday, but there was no way they were going to be here till then.

“The police came back as word was getting round and more and more people were coming out. The police went over and negotiated with them for quite a while and eventually said the majority wanted to go quietly. It was a bit of a moral victory for residents.”

A police statement said they were called to the park off Southbridge Road, around 7.40pm on Tuesday.

It added: “Officers attended and spoke to the travellers who agreed to leave the area.

“A number of local residents gathered in the area, but the incident was dealt with peacefully, without any disorder.”