World’s poshest traveller camp
15 caravans set up next to millionaires’ enclave
ITS glorious beach and spectacular sea views have long made it a magnet for millionaires.
But the delights of Sandbanks in Dorset – where one home is on the market for a mere £8.75million – have also enticed a band of travellers to the area.
A camp of 15 caravans has been set up in a car park near a stretch of multi-million pound homes on the peninsula.
Their arrival has sent shockwaves through the well-heeled Sandbanks community – which includes the likes of former footballers Jamie Redknapp and Graeme Souness.
Residents believe not enough is being done to remove the camp and are angry
‘They have taken over’
Poole Borough Council has supplied them with a Portaloo and a skip.
One of them, Sheena Ogilvy, said: ‘I think all the MPs, police and magistrates need to grow some backbone and use the laws and deal with the problems. Call in the Army.
‘I’m fed up with being a council taxpayer and a UK taxpayer and seeing this happening in so many counties affecting friends and family. It’s got out of hand.’
Bob Reid, chairman of the local residents association, said: ‘It’s the last thing you want in an area like this ... but sadly they have taken over.’
Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, added: ‘It’s getting to the point where residents should start withholding some of their council tax on the grounds that the authorities are not using the funds to keep these people away.’
It is thought the group took over the car park after they were moved from another site in Bournemouth, a few miles away.
The travellers were blamed for a series of fights in local pubs and accused of squirting families with water pistols. Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West, said councils need greater powers to tackle the problem. ‘This issue has been a running sore throughout the entire time that I have been an MP and before,’ he added.
‘There are inadequate enforcement powers to swiftly move on these illegally set up camps ... causing profound disturbance to decent people.’
Local councillor Mohan Iyengar said the travellers were served with an eviction notice as soon as they arrived, adding: ‘They should have been moved on by the end of this week.’
A spokesman for Poole council said it arranged for a toilet and a skip to be put in place to ‘avoid contamination of the area’.
A chief constable yesterday complained of a lack of resources to deal with traveller camps in his county. Nick Ephgrave of Surrey Police said communities would remain ‘vulnerable’ withDispute: out political action.