Traveller camp returns to Weston-super-Mare car park weeks after group evicted from same spot

Travellers have returned to a seafront car park in Weston-super-Mare, weeks after another group was evicted from same spot.

The camp of around 20 caravans arrived at Melrose car park on the seafront last night (August 12).

North Somerset Council confirmed it was due to attend the site to carry out welfare checks today (August 13) .

Spokesman Richard Turner said: “The group of around 20 caravans arrived at Melrose car park last night.

“An officer is attending the site to carry out health and welfare checks.”

Currently the council has no transient sites for Travellers to be moved onto (Nicholas Page Hayman)

This is the second group of Travellers to arrive in the town in the last few days.

A camp of around nine caravans pitched up at the Uphill end of The Beach Lawns on Tuesday evening.

Council officers expect to issue the group with a direction to leave.

This is also the second time Travellers have set up illegal camp at Melrose car park in the last month.

The spot is usually busy with holiday-makers and day-trippers at this time of year.

Last month, a group of around 16 caravans camped on the site for several days, which residents said left it ‘swamped’ with rubbish.

North Somerset Council waste crews were tasked with the clean-up, filling two trucks with rubbish including used nappies, human excrement and garden waste.

Calls are now being made for the authority to put in measures to prevent further encampments.

One suggestion is to install a height barrier at the entrance to the car park to stop larger vehicles from accessing the site.

This is the latest in a number of Traveller encampments in the resort this year.

Some of the mess left behind by travellers in Weston-super-Mare (Nicholas Hayman)

Groups have already set up camps at the Beach Lawns, Clarence Park and Hutton Moor Leisure Centre this year.

North Somerset is a popular stop off with travellers during the summer months when they arrive in the district looking for work.

Currently the council has no transient sites for Travellers where they can be moved onto.

However the district does offer a number of permanent pitches for the travelling community including the Willowmead site and a newly developed site at the Old Junction Yard, both in Weston-super-Mare.