Sandbag line of defence against travellers' Telford camps
They are the latest weapon in the game of cat and mouse between travellers and firms who say they are hampering their business.
Described as "looking like snowmen" by the man who ordered them to be put there, they are actually huge sandbags dumped in a row at a Shropshire industrial estate.
Today businessman Tony Moore claimed the drastic action was taken in frustration at a problem that has affected his firm for months.
Travelling families have been effectively touring areas of Telford, pitching camp until they are forced to leave and find a new spot.
In one week last month, the travellers stopped at four locations in less than a week, setting up camp at trading estates at Halesfield 19, Halesfield 5 and Stafford Park 12, as well as on the Ironbridge park and ride site. Other sites used include the M54 service station, just off junction 4.
Mr Moore is business development director at Dekura on the Stafford Park 18 industrial estate.
He says he is unwilling to put up with the upheaval and cost of having travellers move onto his land.
While travelling families have moved to the trading estate, they have not been able to move onto land owned by Dekura.
Mr Moore said: "They turned up here a few months ago, but we didn't want a reappearance so decided to be prepared this time. They are effectively giant sandbags. We got as many bags as we could filled up with plastic recycling and put them on the verges so they couldn't pull onto the car park or the verges. They look like snowmen as you look down the road."
Mr Moore said the travellers caused problems for businesses when they camped there earlier in the year.
One firm said it cost them in excess of £3,000 to clear up after they had moved on.
Travellers say they have no option but to move around Telford as there is a lack of space in official campsites.
Telford & Wrekin Council is seeking planning permission for a temporary transit site for travellers in the borough, at Snedshill, near Oakengates, Telford.
It is also looking to extend an existing permanent site at Lodge Road, Donnington. Travellers camped close to Dekura today declined to comment, although one man, who did not wish to be named, said they would move off the land if they had somewhere else to go, while another said the police knew that they were there and they were not causing any problems.
Bill Kerswell, the former vice-chairman of Gipsy Council of Britain, who lives near Church Stretton, said as soon as there are sites built around Telford, the problem will cease.
He said: "You see it all over the county. Where there is a new site set up, the problem goes away.
"The people become accepted members of society and their children have somewhere they can go to school. I campaigned for a site in the 1970s in Donnington and since then I think it has just been improved, but a new site would save this problem.
"If there are no homes to live in, people go homeless. If there are no sites for gipsies to live on then they will park in other places."
Rex Stevens Transport, Alumasc and Pelloby are among businesses who have been affected by the travellers. Staff at Alumasc arrived for work at the Halesfield 19 site a fortnight ago to find that their car park barrier had been removed and the area was filled with caravans.
Councillor Charles Smith, cabinet lead for traveller sites, said: "Businesses and residents have been significantly and adversely affected by unlawful encampments by the traveller community.
"We have a statutory duty to provide accommodation for them but this has been difficult because of a lack of available sites – much of the land in Telford is not under the council's control.
"We have been involved in lengthy negotiations with the Homes and Communities Agency and we now have both a short and medium term plan. The tolerated site we are acquiring will significantly reduce the amount of illegal encampments, particularly at Stafford Park and Halesfield.
"We act as quickly as the law allows to move illegal encampments on but they tend to relocate to other sites elsewhere and so a more sustainable solution is required in tandem with preventative measures."
The extension of the existing permanent site in Donnington will give the council the capacity to fulfil its legal obligations to existing local gipsy and traveller families on a longer term basis.
Emily Knightley, a spokeswoman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said work was being done to increase the number of official pitches.
