Travellers' caravans to be moved off west Hull site

A GROUP of travellers who returned to a site just weeks after being removed will be evicted.

Hull City Council said it has secured a court order to remove the travellers from land off Haltemprice Street tomorrow.

Bailiffs are expected to arrive at the site in the morning to remove about 30 caravans.

Laura Carr, head of physical regeneration at the city council, said: "We share the residents' concerns and we would like to again reassure them that we are acting on their concerns and have obtained an eviction date from the courts for the bailiffs to remove the travellers from the Haltemprice Street site tomorrow.

"As soon as the travellers have left the area, the land will be cleared."

The council received further complaints after the travellers held a horse drive in streets around Hawthorn Avenue.

Dozens of horses and carts were raced up and down the street and surrounding areas on Sunday.

Police closed several streets while the drive took place.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "I have never seen anything like it.

"There were horses and carts blocking the road and all over the pavement, you couldn't get down the streets.

"There were also lots of 4x4s parked on the pavements.

"I called the police and they said they were monitoring the situation on CCTV and advised me to stay in my house. They first started racing up and down at about 11pm on Saturday and on Sunday there was just more and more of them.

"There were crowds of people cheering and shouting and blocking the pavements, making it impossible to get anywhere."

The group set up on land off Haltemprice Street in August, before moving to the nearby Amy Johnson site.

They moved off the site when the council began legal action but later returned.

The resident said: "It is frustrating they have been there for so long. We pay our taxes to keep our area nice and then these travellers come along, leave a mess and get away with it.

"I was flabbergasted when the police told me I should stay in my own home.

"We shouldn't have to put up with it."

The council said it had received complaints about the horse drive, but said it was a police matter.

Ms Carr said: "We were made aware by Humberside Police about the horse drive and we have received a number of complaints from residents.

"However, we understand this is a police matter."

A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said officers closed some roads on the route of the horse drive, known as the Hessle Road Horse Fair.

She said: "The event passed off reasonably peacefully with no arrests, although it did cause some traffic disruption due to the high number of travellers involved.

"A number of roads were closed at various points to allow the travellers and their horses to get to their destination."

The travellers first arrived at Millport Drive on the Boothferry estate in August before heading to land close to Kelvin Hall School, off Bricknell Avenue, west Hull.

From here, they moved to the site of the former Lambwath School, off Saltshouse Road, east Hull.

The council moved quickly to secure the Lambwath School to ensure no more travellers could get on.

Hull City Council cleared the land and installed a chain and padlock. A rubble mound was also put in place.