Travellers set up camp on new Shrewsbury Town training ground

The travellers arrived at Sundorne Castle after being served with a notice to leave Shrewsbury Sports Village in Sundorne Road on Monday. They had previously set up camp at Harlescott and Meole Brace.

While at Shrewsbury Sports Village the travellers had stopped on the playing fields neighbouring the Shropshire Council sports centre.

Shrewsbury Town Football Club said a common law 24-hour order had been served on the group yesterday, requesting that they leave within the time-frame.

The site is the focus of work to create a new training centre for the League One team, which currently trains on a pitch next to the Greenhous Meadow, and occasionally rents facilities at Lilleshall National Sports Centre.

In April last year the club announced it would be investing £200,000 in the site in preparation for making it the base for the first team's day-to-day training. The work has included installing new drainage, putting up buildings and improving the two full-size pitches and one three-quarter size pitch.

The current training pitch at Greenhous Meadow is integral to plans to bring a new Lidl store to the town. If the delayed plans are approved Lidl would be built on land at the front of the stadium next to Oteley Road, while the existing training pitch will become a pitch for community use.