TAXPAYERS have been left to foot the bill for the clean-up operation on a city car park where travellers illegally camped for nearly a week.

A team of six from the city council's environmental services were paid overtime on Friday night to remove 50 bags of rubbish from the Croft Road site and waste from around the recycling bins.

And on Saturday a team of three dressed in special gear had to clean up the human excrement from under the bushes in the area.

Environmental Health had already been to carry out a similar task outside Cafe Loco in Grandstand Road on Wednesday morning.

Mike Harrison, head of environmental services, said the clean-up would have cost about £500.

He added: "But it's not just the cost - it is the fact that members of staff had to be taken off their normal duties.

"Plus there is the potential loss of car parking revenue, and the cost of repairing the barrier which was broken by the travellers to get on to the site - that is estimated between £500 and £1,000.

"What also has to be thought about is the fact that this has probably put a lot of people off returning to Worcester."

In the six days that the travellers were on the site they left rubbish bags and boxes strewn across the footpath; rugs, towels and blankets hung from railings around Pitchcroft; and the stench of urine and faeces filled the air.

Vicky Cannon, catering assistant at Cafe Loco, also described how a bouncer had to be brought in on Monday and Tuesday to guard the door after groups of between five and 15 children from the caravans terrorised the kiosk, stealing food, she claimed, and hammering on the windows and doors.

She added: "We were forced to close in the end for the safety of our

customers."

The cafe re-opened on Saturday morning once the travellers had left. The mobile homes arrived on the evening of Sunday, August 27, and the Worcester News reported visitors' disgust after seeing members of the families defecating in the car park, shouting abuse at coach drivers bringing in tourists and weaving in and out of traffic on bikes.

The city council issued the travellers with a notice to leave on Tuesday, but they did not pack up and go until Friday afternoon.

Leader of the city council Simon Geraghty said not a lot else could be done to prevent them from returning again. "We have the barrier, but if someone comes along who wants to get in they will find a way," he said.

One visitor, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "It was a disgrace and is sure to put people off returning."