COUNCIL officials have started the legal process to remove travellers from a Poole town centre car park.

Three caravans and associated vehicles remained at Borough of Poole's Dolphin Swimming Pool car park, yesterday, towards the rear of the site.

Council officers are monitoring the encampment, which emerged at the car park, off Kingland Road, on Thursday morning.

Poole's regulatory team manager Jeff Morley, said: “We have started the legal process to secure an eviction order for the unauthorised encampment currently situated at the car park.

"At present the site remains clean and tidy and we will continue to monitor this. The car park however remains available for those people using the swimming pool.”

One nearby resident, who asked not to be named, told the Echo: "We get them over in the car park most summers. To be fair, if there's not too many of them it doesn't really cause much of a disruption - well not to residents.

"I guess the problem occurs if a lot more turn up, or if people are unable to park their cars in the car park because there is no room."

The travellers indicated they'd be leaving the site by Sunday, said a council spokesman.

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