A COURT order has been sought to remove a group of Travellers who are currently camped at a Chester park.

The Travellers group, involving six caravans, arrived at Westminster Park, between Hough Green and Lache Lane, on Saturday, August 13.

Having initially been on the playing field, the caravans then moved to the car park by the Hough Green entrance.

Cheshire West and Chester Council served them with a notice to leave, as the park is on council land, by 5pm on Wednesday, August 17, but the Travellers had remained there beyond this deadline.

As a result, the council has confirmed it will be seeking a court order which would grant the authority and police additional powers to enforce the removal of the encampment.

Such hearings are heard at Chester Magistrates Court, but are dependent on court capacity, and a hearing is currently not scheduled for the rest of this week.

Separately, a Travellers camp involving about 10 caravans has arrived at the Wrexham Road Park and Ride site, not far from the Posthouse Roundabout, in Chester.

The encampment, CWaC says, arrived there on Wednesday, August 17, and an officer is to attend there "as soon as possible" to assess the situation.

A third Travellers encampment had been in place on land off Stoke Gardens in Ellesmere Port, having been in place since August 8.

Again on council-owned land, the encampment involving 10 caravans was present from August 8.

CWaC applied to Chester Magistrates Court for a court order to remove the encampment on August 17, and the Travellers left that day.

The council has requested a clean-up of the area and portable toilets to be collected.

A further encampment has been reported on Wolverham Park in Ellesmere Port. A court order has been requested for the encampment involving seven caravans, which has been on the land since August 2.