POOLE council officials have cancelled today's Christmas park and ride after travellers moved onto the site at Creekmoor.

The scheduled service due to take place today has been called off due to an 'unauthorised encampment'.

The travellers are believed to have arrived ahead of a gypsy horse fair in Poole which it is understood has already been cancelled.

Other park and ride services remain unaffected, a spokesperson for Poole Borough Council has said.

A joint statement has been issued by the council and Dorset Police

“Whilst Borough of Poole and Dorset Police were previously aware that a horse drive was arranged to take place in Poole this weekend, the event organiser had confirmed that this event was now cancelled. We have received no formal notification that this event will now take place," it says.

“We can confirm that an unauthorised encampment has gained access to the Creekmoor park and ride site following a breach in site security arrangements.

“As a result, Borough of Poole has taken the decision to cancel the Christmas park and ride service that was scheduled to take place on Saturday 28 November. The Council would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause people who had planned to use this facility. This service will continue on 5, 12 and 19 December as planned.

“We will be monitoring the situation over the weekend as public safety is a key concern. If anyone witnesses any crimes we would urge them to contact the police on 101.”

This morning Morebus's social media feeds were running promotional ads for the service today, but it is believed these were scheduled to go out before the service was cancelled.

Cllr Judy Butt, who said she was speaking behalf of all three Creekmoor ward councillors, told the Daily Echo she is optimistic the park and ride will return next week.

“After all the work we had done with the travellers we were disappointed that this has happened,” she said. “All three of us are working with officers to try and find a resolution.”

She added that the locks to the site had been broken, a cost that will have to be met by council tax payers.