COUNCIL chiefs re-opened Worcester's Pitmaston Park this afternoon after finishing a major operation to clean up the hazardous mess left behind by travellers.

Shortly after 4pm Worcestershire County Council decided to unlock the gates at the popular fields after it dramatically closed for nearly 48 hours.

A team of workers descended upon the site to take away bags of filthy waste including faeces, dirty nappies and toilet paper during an operation that got underway at 11am today.

The fields have also been disinfected, with the council saying the next step will be to establish the costs of the clean-up.

Today the authority first said the park, in St John's, was due to remain shut until Saturday, before working furiously to get it back open earlier than first feared.

The travellers' trail of rubbish, which led to furious criticism from residents, was found dumped on the park on Tuesday afternoon after the last of up to 20 caravans departed.

The re-opening came as another group of travellers arrived in Worcestershire only to leave after less than a day.

Around eight caravans parked up on the fields of St Egwin's C of E Middle School, in Worcester Road, Evesham yesterday afternoon but were gone shortly after 3pm today after officers from County Hall asked them to leave.

A county council spokesman said: "After receiving notification officers visited the site to ensure there were no welfare issues.

"The council followed the legal processes necessary to serve formal notice on them."

After the events at Pitmaston Park, council bosses in Worcester have rejected a plea from the police's chief constable to create more permanent traveller pitches - saying the argument is too "simplistic".

Worcester City Council said David Shaw's plea to get more pitches in place is easier said than done - not least because many travellers like to move around.

Last week we revealed how Mr Shaw, the chief constable at West Mercia Police, said his force was frustrated with a lack of options for them.

Councillor Andy Roberts, the city council's cabinet member for cleaner and greener, said: "It's a simplistic argument, in my view.

"Mr Shaw has the principle absolutely right but in some cases you're really dealing with people who choose to travel around, rather than perhaps stay and be disciplined.

"It's difficult to legislate for that. But we've got our development plan we've been working on for some time and it takes into consideration the need for traveller sites."

Your Worcester News has obtained data showing how the city has the smallest number of permanent pitches in south Worcestershire, with just 19 spaces at Offerton Lane - Malvern has 22 and Wychavon 193.

The South Worcestershire Development Plan includes provision for another 143 pitches by 2030, but Worcester is taking the smallest share at just 13.

* To see the mess left behind at Pitmaston Park click HERE.