Circle the wagons!
Neighbours park cars on green...to keep travellers off
FACED with travellers taking over their cul-de-sac, a group of neighbours fortified their green with a blockade of cars.
They swung into action on Sunday when three caravans pulled off the main road into Hengrove, south Bristol, near their street.
The families of Stavordale Grove had been celebrating a birthday on the lawn at the centre of the cul- de- sac when the alert went out. They jumped into action, moving about ten cars on to the green to stop anyone parking there.
A 56- year- old, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ‘Three cars with caravans moved round the grove looking for their next site to park up. It’s where children play in a nice, tight-knit community so residents parked around the patch to protect it. About ten cars blocked off the grass.’
Another neighbour, Kirsty, said it was a display of ‘community spirit’, adding: ‘We were all out there celebrating a child’s birthday and told them where to go. The residents parked on the green to stop them. Now we are staying parked there in fear they may return.’ One neighbour said the travellers had parked up on a neighbouring road after the cars blocked off access to the cul-de-sac. ‘Some of the neighbours saw the travellers driving round the estate,’ he said. ‘They took photographs of the green so I joined in and parked my car there too. This is where we live and we keep it nice and tidy.’ Last month hundreds of locals in Weston- super-Mare confronted travellers who had pitched up in a community park. It became so heated that police were called to form a barrier between the sides.