A group of travellers occupying land on Woolwich Common have been moved on after concerns over extensive fly tipping and antisocial behaviour were raised.

Greenwich Council, a number of community groups and the Ministry of Defence, who own the land, all stepped in and worked to end the disruption.

Friends of Woolwich Common, volunteer group, were one of the groups to hit out, saying wildlife was being destroyed and locals intimidated.

"The disrespect the travellers have shown on the common since they settled a week ago is quite staggering."

The travellers arrived at Woolwich Common in late July, and within a few days were the cause of a number of complaints from residents.

Videos showed rubbish piled up along the common and extensive fly tipping, whilst reports also emerged of threatening behaviour from some of those occupying the site.

 

 

A tweet from the Ministry of Defence's DIO team said: "Officials from MOD are engaged with our legal team, Ministry of Defence Police, Met Police and Council officials to seek to move the travellers on from the site as quickly as possible."

On Saturday, August 1, the travllers were served with a notice to vacate by 4pm the following day under the Section 77 of the Criminal Justice Act.

It appears the travellers responded and left the south east London site on Sunday, although leaving behind considerable rubbish and damage to the park.

 

 

Greenwich Council said that whilst it didn't own the land, they had intervened and offered support in progressing legal procedures "due to concerns raised by the local community."

They are now working with the MOD and a number of community groups to look at options to prevent this situation from happening again.

"We would like to thank our Parks and Legal teams who worked hard to achieve this result," they added.

On Twitter, one person said they hoped more action and security was planned "for the community who love it and are devastated by this."

Councillor for the area David Garden also tweeted out saying he was relieved that the "encampment" had been moved on after 13 days. "Now the clear-up and securing against a repeat begins."