18 caravans moved on to town car park
TRAVELLERS set up an illegal camp on a busy town centre car park.
Around 18 caravans moved onto Tape Street car park opposite B&M in Cheadle last Wednesday, though they had moved on by Friday morning.
And traders feared they could lose money as its the main car park for shoppers in the town.
Calls were made for Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to take enforcement action to remove the travellers from the site.
Shaun Reddy, owner of Fresh Produce based at B&M, feared he could have to shut if the encampment remained in place.
He said: “It will affect business in the town. Customers have already said to me they won’t come back while the travellers are still there.
“The council needs barriers or something to stop this from happening. I can’t afford this and will just have to shut unless they move.
“The council is quick to jump on people parking here without tickets but there isn’t one on the caravans.
“At the end of the day the way these caravans were parked was dangerous and there was a delivery lorry which had to reverse around the one way system because he couldn’t get around.”
Shoppers also backed calls for the council to ticket the caravans.
Reg Aye, of Cheadle, said: “I work at another superstore and when travellers came to our car park we had to have specialists clean up.
“And if I didn’t pay to park my car then I would get a fine. Who would fine these caravans? They won’t be able to chase up the fines.”
Ray Wood, who is a member of Cheadle Town Council, said: “This caused a lot of disruption to the public and businesses in Cheadle. Some of the caravans were taking up four or five spaces and I counted up to 18 of them at one point.
“People want to know why they haven’t been ticketed.”
Police says the incident is a civil matter but officers did attend the scene and monitored the situation until the travellers left.
A district council confirmed that the authority was aware of the vehicles and was liaising with the occupants in line with ‘council procedures.’