9:59am Wednesday 2nd April 2008
By Lucy Tatchell
A COMPANY director has been forced to spend thousands of pounds removing a group of travellers who have moved on to his factory site.
Charles Sterling said he was forced to employ the services of a private company to get rid of the travellers, after West Mercia Constabulary said it had been advised not to help.
Mr Sterling discovered 10 caravans and six vans had moved on to the car park behind Sterling Power Products Ltd's factory in Droitwich on Sunday.
The camp is housing about 40 travellers, horses and dogs.
He immediately called police, but despite being sympathetic, officers refused to take action against the travellers.
Mr Sterling bought the factory site in Wassage Way on the Hampton Lovett Industrial Estate in Droitwich in December last year.
The plan was to move the expanding company there, but the makeshift camp has meant running the business has been impossible.
"We cannot use the factory," he said.
"We are in the process of starting to move up there, but the whole back area has just been taken over."
Mr Sterling has now employed Uniqwin, an investigation and security consultancy, to get rid of the travellers. Yesterday it served an eviction notice giving the travellers 24 hours to leave, at a cost of £1,000.
If they do not, the company will forcibly remove them at a further cost of £4,000. "There are statutory powers for police to move travellers on but Worcestershire decided not to enforce those so the travellers target Worcester," said Mr Sterling.
"I now have to go to the expense of, in a nut shell, dial-an-army' to remove them myself.
"What do you do? The police are no use so I have to do rent an army."
Inspector Stephen Brooker , of West Mercia Constabulary, confirmed the police did have powers to remove travellers, but said the Home Office had directed forces to take into account the needs of travellers before using it.
"We have to take into consideration the needs of all communities and consider the impact on the travellers if they were to be moved," he said.
He added the police would move them if they were causing a disruption to the community, for example on a school playing field and would support any court or removal action to make them leave private land.
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