Traveller claims stay on fields is authorised

COMPLAINTS ABOUT 'RACIST' ABUSE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

- CARL EVE

A TRAVELLER on an Elburton playing field has claimed she had been told by a city council worker she could remain on the site with her caravan until next Monday.

The woman at King George V Memorial Playing Fields told a reporter from The Herald and Cllr David Salmon, who represents Plymstock Dunstone ward, that she had arrived at the site on May 29 and had been visited by staff from Plymouth City Council to offer a welfare check, bins and toilet facilities.

The woman, who confirmed she was a Traveller but did not want to be named, spoke on Tuesday alongside another woman, who said she had arrived on the fields three days previously. Both women, whose caravans were close to properties in Henry Avent Gardens, said they were not part of the larger group at the western end of the playing fields, by Haye Road.

In recent days, residents’ social media websites have highlighted the arrival of more and more Travellers to the rugby pitches, along with increased traffic on and off the site as well as a growing pile of fly-tipped rubbish and noise.