Blackpool Council travellers ban: High Court injunction granted

Thirteen travellers have been banned from "seven parcels of land", the council said

Thirteen travellers have been banned from sites in Blackpool using what the council said was the first High Court injunction of its kind.

The order bars the named 13 from "seven parcels of land" following the establishment of 11 unauthorised camps in the town in the summer.

Blackpool Council said up to 240 people and 80 caravans used the illegal sites.

A spokesman said one camp had delayed the landing of an air ambulance and had put locals "in harm's way".

'Human waste'

The authority believe it is the first injunction secured against illegal travellers using a combination of the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act and the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act.

The spokesman said there had also been instances of human waste being found on playing fields, BB guns being fired at people and plastic being burned in public spaces.

The authority had moved the travellers using magistrates' rulings, but some returned to other sites or to where they were removed from, he said.

Blackpool Council's deputy leader Gillian Campbell said that had been "very frustrating" and the use of an injunction "sends a very strong message [and] brings an end to their visits".

The order bars them from "entering or remaining without planning consent" on:

• Common Edge Road playing fields

• Lawson Road playing fields

• Two sites covering Mereside Park

• Layton Recreation Ground at Collingwood Avenue

• Langdale Community Centre

• South Shore car park off Yeadon Way.