A GROUP of travellers who have moved on to a piece of green land in Yate have been issued with a notice to leave.

Seven caravans were driven on to the green on Longs Drive on Tuesday (September 22) quickly sparking complaints from local residents after the already-wet grass was churned up and turned to mud.

Officials from the police, South Gloucestershire Council and Yate Town Council, which leases the land from the district authority, have visited the site.

A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council said: “An officer from our traveller unit has visited the families to assess their welfare needs and to negotiate with the families to leave the site in line with our established procedures."

She said the authority had issued them with notice to leave the site by this morning but the travellers remain on the site. 

The council said it would 'continue to liaise with the families in order to resolve the situation as quickly as possible'.

Yate town councillor Chris Willmore said: “I am sad young people are being forced to pay the price for travellers coming onto what they saw as waste land but which is actually a very popular play area.

“South Gloucestershire Council has legal responsibility to get the travellers moved off the play area and are doing their best to make this happen quickly.

“We have to let them go through the correct legal process or it will make things worse.

“Yate Town Council will then be faced with a bill to make sure the site is properly cleaned up for young people to use it again. Please bear with us as this make take some time.”

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said the force would work with other authorities to agree on a course of action.