A COUNCILLOR has slammed his own authority for treating "gypsies" as though they are "above the law" after a group of travellers left a mess at a beauty spot.

And Worcester City Council has apologised for saying the travellers had left the site “tidy” when faeces were later discovered there.

A city council spokesman admitted their officers had not inspected the whole area.

The group of French travellers, consisting of 10 caravans and associated vehicles, moved on from Laugherne Brook Local Nature Reserve on Monday night (July 30) after being served a notice by Worcester City Council on July 29.

Alan Amos, city and county councillor for Bedwardine, whose ward is near to the reserve, said: “It is absolutely disgraceful that immediately these foreign gypsies arrived, the council sent a number of welfare officers to offer them welfare and health assistance when, instead, they should have sent enforcement officers to move them on straight away.

“After they had chosen to go, the council originally told me incorrectly that they had left the area tidy only for me to later find out that the gypsies had, in fact, left human faeces and other filth all around.

“Clearly, the council accepts that gypsies are above the law. They trespass on a well-used and nice piece of open recreation land which prevents ordinary residents from being able to use it and, like every other gypsy invasion, create filth which taxpayers have to pay to clear up. Yet if you are a law-abiding tax payer and overstay in a council car park for just a couple of minutes, you’ll get a huge fine for which the council will pursue you through the courts to get every penny.”

Readers have called for it to be legal to evict nuisance travellers immediately.

Commenting on our website, Tiredandweary said: “The civil punitive system only applies to lawful citizens. Get a parking ticket or speeding ticket and authorities know you and I will pay. The majority of travellers fall into the ‘too difficult to deal with’ or ‘can’t be bothered to pursue’ category. Yet we the taxpayer pick up their tab.”

Saucerer added: “Both Worcester City Council and West Mercia Police have ample powers to deal with the constant stream of travellers that seem to arrive in Worcester and yet they do not to exercise all these powers because they’re either to frightened to deal with travellers or, which is probably more truthful, they simply just can’t be asked to do anything.”

A Worcester City Council spokesman said: “There is a joint protocol for the whole of Worcestershire that sets out how councils respond if travellers set up unauthorised encampments on public land. The protocol was drawn up in line with the Human Rights Act 1998, the Housing Act 2004, Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.

“Under this protocol, the travellers’ presence will be tolerated for up to 21 days, unless there is evidence that their presence is having an unreasonable effect on neighbours and the community, of environmental damage, of criminality or of their presence affecting the council’s normal operations – for example, if they occupied a car park. We carry out a welfare check on the travellers as part of the protocol. In this case (Laugherne Brook), there was a welfare issue to be considered.”