The council has started the process to evict a group of Travellers, who have set up an illegal encampment in a Cambridge car park.
A group of at least three caravans, and their accompanying vehicles, have been spotted parked up in the main car park for the Abbey Pool in the city.
Normally the popular car park is full daily but recently it has remained empty due to the leisure centre being closed during the coronavirus lockdown.
It is not known exactly how long the travellers have been in the area but residents have come to notice the caravans more over the past couple of days.
The caravans have spread themselves inside an area of the main car park as well as one being parked at the entrance to the site, making it almost impossible for cars to reach the pool.
A police spokesman confirmed that local neighbourhood teams have attended the site.
He said: "Police respond to all unauthorised encampments for an initial assessment. We would encourage members of the public to continue to report information about unauthorised encampments to your local council so appropriate action can be taken."
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A spokesperson for the city council said: “We are aware of a group of travellers at Abbey pools and visited them yesterday (May 26) to carry out a welfare assessment, as we are legally bound to do.
"We have also started the legal process for a magistrates’ court hearing to gain a court order. Once we have been granted the order it will be served on the travellers and they will be required to leave Abbey pools.”
Only a small percentage of UK traveller populations pitch up illegally, with many opting to choose to camp at the many legal sites for travellers across the country. There are 10 of these in Cambridge alone.
At the start of the Government ordered lockdown we asked a local Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) campaign group what is being done to protect the community during the outbreak.
The FFT guidance suggests extra protection should be given to GRT families who are in precarious living situations such as those who are vagrant, staying on land short-term, have no permanent mooring or are staying on land illegally.
You can read more about how Cambridgeshire's council's responded by clicking here.
