TRAVELLERS have set up an illegal encampment on a Dorset recreation ground.
Residents near the site at Three Legged Cross said the group have been there for 11 days, leaving local youngsters unable to use the skate park and grassed area.
There are currently eight caravans and associated cars and vans on the recreation ground, which is accessed via a track off Verwood Road.
One local resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “The site is usually well-used by local children but they have not been playing there since the travellers arrived.
“They have been pretty quiet but it’s still a nuisance that they’re there. No one has spoken to us about it or told us when they will be leaving.”
She said travellers were last on the site about four years ago.
East Dorset district councillor Peter Richardson, of the Three Cross and Potterne ward, said: “They are not camping where they’re meant to be – that land belongs to the town council.
“The legal process is in hand and that’s thanks to the town clerk. I would expect it to be resolved fairly soon.”
Verwood Town councillor Jane Russell echoed Cllr Richardson’s comments: “This is going through the legal process as we speak,” she said.
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