Council leader calls for travellers to be prosecuted for fly-tipping after leaving 'trail of destruction' in market town

A council leader has called for travellers to be prosecuted for fly-tipping after a 'trail of destruction' was left in a public park.Piles of litter were left behind by an unauthorised encampment in Fareham, Hampshire, including bin bags, gas canisters and a pram.Pictures showed the litter piled up beside a footpath, with the group even leaving a burned out motorbike surrounded by debris.Councils are often left picking up the bill for the cost of cleaning up after travellers and struggle to prosecute them for fly-tipping. Local council leader Simon Martin is now calling for a change in the law to try to reverse that.The unauthorised encampment arrived at a recreation ground in Fareham at the start of the month.Around 19 cars and associated vehicles parked up on the land, according to Fareham Borough Council.Since then, waste has been found fly-tipped across the site, while residents were subject to 'abuse and dog attacks', according to Conservative Cllr Martin. Litter left by travellers at a park in Fareham, Hampshire, near to the encampment in Gosport Bin bags were piled high and fly tipped next to a footpath through the park in Fareham A motorcycle was also left on the field in Fareham, surrounded by debrisHe said: 'The travellers arrived on August 5 and accessed the Park Lane site by damaging the fencing.'During the period of occupation, there were complaints that travellers were verbally abusing residents and [there were] dog attacks.''The travellers were evicted at the weekend and left a trail of destruction and rubbish left that will have to be undertaken by the Council which is paid for by residents through their Council tax.'The law needs to change whereby travellers can be prosecuted for criminal damage and made to pay for the cost of cleaning up after them.'After the travellers left the site, Cllr Martin said: 'The travellers were evicted at the weekend and left a trail of destruction.'Numerous plastic bottles and cardboard boxes were also seen scattered on the grass.In a post on Facebook, Cllr Martin said: 'Following the eviction of travellers who decided to break our fencing to gain illegal access to our land in Park Lane and damage our property, this is what we are now left with to clear up.'All of which will have to be paid for by the council.'Cllr Martin said the eviction process began on the date of the travellers' arrival, and that Hampshire police were informed of the alleged dog attacks.The force has since said that no reports of this nature were received during the time that the travellers were on the site.Meanwhile, in nearby Gosport, council staff took measures into their own hands to try and dissuade travellers from settling.They attempted to block them from entering a field using a 'ring of steel' and kicked up dust from the dry ground to try and force them out.A council tractor was also sent to cut the lawn on the bone-dry orange grass, resulting in a large dust cloud being kicked up from the ground. They arrived on the same day that an encampment departed from Fareham. However, local residents on social media revealed that more travellers arrived at the camp after council staff left at 5pm. A tractor was also sent to cut the dead grass on the bone dry field, kicking up a cloud of dust A line of five council trucks attempted to guard the entrance to the Grange lane fields in Gosport, HampshireIn a statement on Facebook, the Gosport Reform Party wrote: 'Council vehicles are arriving now to prevent further travellers arriving and police are on scene at Grange Lane fields next to the school in Rowner. Hopefully more grass cutting takes place!'Access to the field and other areas of the Borough are too easy for vehicles to gain entry.'Cllrs Paul Carter and Paul Jacobs have been asking the council as far back as September last year, along with the Conservatives more recently to put measures in place to protect our open spaces, yet we are still waiting for action.'Laura Biddle, who lives nearby, raised concerns that a traveller camp has returned each year.She added: 'Let's hope they don't light a fire! I live in the flats near there. I have lived here for years now and they come back every summer.'A spokesman for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police wrote: 'We are aware of an unauthorised encampment at a site on Grange Lane, Gosport.'Officers have attended the site and we are liaising with the landowners, Gosport Borough Council.'