"HACKED off" residents have backed calls for preventative measures after the latest traveller invasion of 18 caravans at Baiter Park in Poole.

The number of caravans and motorhomes has grown since the weekend when 10 set up camp at the council car park, close to people's homes.

Jeff Morley, regulatory team manager for Borough of Poole, said yesterday: “We can confirm that there are 18 caravans, and associated vehicles, at Baiter car park.

“We have provided a skip to the car park and we have started the legal process to secure an eviction order for both sites.”

Mike Randall, chairman of Parkstone Bay Association, said the council needed to take preventative measures against future unauthorised encampments.

“The travellers who have arrived at Baiter Car Park are about 30 metres from residents’ properties, and the noise was pretty bad last night with dogs barking.

“The council has been absolutely trite in dealing with this. I have put a petition to residents and have already had about 150 people signing to ask the council to take some preventative measures.”

He added: “They have done nothing to stop them accessing the car park. This is the seventh incursion in 15 months here and residents are getting a bit hacked off and rightly so.”

Meanwhile, seven caravans and other vehicles remain on open land in Canford Heath after arriving on Saturday.

Nearby residents said they first became aware of the group at what is known as Verity Park on Sunday morning.

Mr Morley said the council had delivered portable toilets to the area yesterday and legal moves to evict the unauthorised camp had started.

Last year a group of travellers were spotted in the same area. One Canford Heath resident, who asked not to be named, said: “The group were quite aggressive and lots of complaints were made locally about dogs roaming around and kids on motorbikes.”

It has not been suggested that the group that arrived on the land off Verity Crescent at the weekend are the same group as last year.

Yesterday, a group that arrived at Cotlands Road car park in Bournemouth town centre on Thursday remained there. Bournemouth Borough Council has begun legal proceedings to move them on.

Commenting when the group arrived at Cotlands Road, Adnan Chaudry, chief executive of Dorset Race Equality Council, said that unauthorised camps, which "whipped up" feelings against travellers, would continue unless an authorised site was found.

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