Taxpayers foot £30,000 clean-up bill

9:46am Wednesday 20th August 2008

Taxpayers have been left with a £30,000 clean-up bill after mountains of rubbish were left in a field being used by travellers.

Police yesterday caught a man fly-tipping garden waste at the site which is being used by travellers in up to 50 caravans.

Fridges, freezers, loft insulation, wood, a kitchen sink and garden waste have all been dumped in the council-owned field which is leased to a farmer. The rubbish has been dumped in piles around the edge of the field and in bushes.

A senior police officer described the rubbish as the worst he had ever seen and estimated it would cost between £20,000 and £30,000 to remove the rubbish.

It will take council staff at least a week to remove the waste.

One traveller said the group would use skips to clear away any rubbish they produced at the site.

The 31-year-old man who was arrested for fly-tipping was last night being questioned by officers.

His maroon flatbed Transit lorry was seized by police. Travellers have been at the site in Ditchling Road, Hollingbury, Brighton, for about ten days.

They moved to the land from Stanmer Park in Brighton since when there have been many complaints from residents about their illegal camp.

Inspector Steve Curry, of Sussex Police, said: “It is a great shame because this leads to intolerance, prejudice and intimidation.

“It is the minority who create a problem for the majority.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “We await advice from the police on how to proceed. Travellers camped illegally on council-owned land are always evicted.”

Yesterday some of the travellers had started to leave the site and it is believed the rest will have gone by the end of the week.

Ohpe Sykes, 57, camped at the site for a few days before returning to Burnley, Lancashire.

He said the site was used as a meeting place for friends and families to catch up with each other for a few days before they moved on.

He said: “We have arranged for skips to clear up the rubbish we leave behind.”

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