Call for trespass law to stop traveller sites on private land

DOZENS of Conservative MPs, including former Cabinet ministers, are demanding that the Government makes trespassing a criminal offence to stop travellers moving on to private land.

The MPs, led by Mark Francois and John Baron, have written to Theresa May and James Brokenshire, the Housing Secretary, urging them to make “acts of deliberate trespass a criminal offence”. They say that people “have a right to expect that the law should be applied equally and fairly to all”.

Last week police in Surrey failed to take action to remove a group of travellers who set up camp illegally in a park in Thames Ditton. The group were evicted by the council after three days, but left behind damage and mess.

The council hired a specialist cleaning company to “cleanse” the park’s playground after their stay. Paul Gregory, 42, who lives opposite the park, agrees with the proposals to criminalise trespass. He said: “It would mean the police could confront the issue straight away, rather than the longwinded civil process. A friend of mine got fined £80 for dropping some litter on the ground in that park, but travellers can come and do what they like without facing the consequences.”

Fifty-nine Tory MPs signed the letter, including former Cabinet ministers John Whittingdale, Sir Michael Fallon and Priti Patel, and submitted it to a government consultation on travellers.

They said the criminal power “would provide a timely method of dealing with unauthorised encampments on private or public land, in contrast to the current powers, which are either very limited in scope or require often timeconsuming recourse to the courts”.

The group met Mr Brokenshire days before Parliament broke up for its summer recess last month.

A housing department spokesman said: “The vast majority of the travelling community are decent and lawabiding people, but we are very concerned about unauthorised traveller encampments and some of the antisocial behaviour they can give rise to.

“The rule of law must be applied and we are committed to tackling illegal behaviours. We have consulted on the effectiveness of enforcement powers and we are considering the responses before deciding on next steps.”