TRAVELLERS have once again set up camp on a public space in Chipping Sodbury, leaving residents exasperated.

Around 20 caravans arrived on Sodbury Common on Monday and were still there as the Gazette went to print last night, despite the group being served with an eviction notice which ordered them off the site by 4.30pm.

Sodbury Common Conservators, which manages the area, said the next step was for bailiffs to attempt to evict the travellers from the site.

Police said they were monitoring the site and would be there if bailiffs went in.

Residents said the travellers were the same group who caused “mayhem” in the area last summer.

They are also believed to be the same group who set up camp in the public car park at Waitrose in the town centre last month, causing a weekend of misery for traders and residents.

Chipping Sodbury mayor Cllr Paddy Smith, who also serves as one of the common conservators, said: “Just trying to move them is unbelievable. The mess they leave behind is horrendous and it’s not fair to nearby residents and businesses.”

Richard Williams, director of Williams Automobiles Ltd, by the common, told the Gazette yesterday afternoon: “They are roaming the area at the moment. Their vans are going around looking in people’s driveways. They are dumping rubbish.

“I’m going to write to our MP, Luke Hall, to ask him to raise this in Parliament as it keeps happening in Sodbury.”

A member of staff at Chipping Sodbury Golf Club said items had been stolen from the course, including flagpoles.

Frances Good, owner of Star Vale Cattery on the common, said: “We have been warned by the police to keep vigilant because it’s the same group that were here last summer and caused mayhem. They stole things from businesses and dumped rubbish everywhere.”

MP Mr Hall said: “I will be working with the council’s enforcement team and police beat teams on the issue of illegal encampments.”

The group that took over the town centre car park moved in on the night of Friday July 1.

Traders in the town said takings were down that weekend as a result of people not using the car park, and residents reported being harassed by the group.

The travellers stayed until late on the Monday, leaving rubbish behind.