COMMUNITIES have found their recreation grounds taken over by travelling caravans in recent weeks.
A group of caravans invaded the public space off Somerset Road in Meadvale on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to this they had spent three days on land owned by Barratt Homes in Horley, before the threat of action forced them to move. But after a swift response from the police and borough council, they were gone from Meadvale in a little over 24 hours.
In the latest case, two caravans arrived on land at Three Arch Road, Whitebushes, on Tuesday. Police again attended, but the criteria for them to intervene were not met, and the council issued the travellers with a notice to quit.
The latest incursions come two weeks after communities secretary Eric Pickles urged councils to take swift action against travellers who set up home on public land, and less than a month after travellers left Brook Road Open Space in Merstham, having spent a day there and three weeks camped on Hooley Recreation Ground.
Borough police inspector Richard Haycock said: "We haven't seen this for a long time. We have suddenly had a flurry. The Hooley and Merstham group was as a result of an eviction carried out in the Metropolitan area which forced them to move on. There was no connection between them and the group at Meadvale. This group came to the area a few days ahead of attending a Christian festival.
"We informed them if they hadn't left by 3pm on Sunday we would return and enforce the criminal justice and public order act."
The travellers left an hour before the deadline.
It was a different picture at Hooley Recreation Ground last month, despite the same criteria applying. Travellers left a £6,000 clean-up bill after their three-week stay.
Opting not to move them on when they arrived, the officer in charge deemed any threat of disorder was outweighed by human rights considerations. But Reigate and Banstead Borough Council was so disappointed by the police's failure to act, they forwarded the £6,000 bill to Kevin Hurley, police and crime commissioner for Surrey.
Mr Hurley has not revealed whether he will be paying up.
Borough councillor Natalie Bramhall, who was involved in the Meadvale case, said: "I think the way the council and police dealt with it was a great example of partnership working. The Hooley one was down to the fact that the police didn't exercise section 61 powers. Council officers felt there had been clear criminal damage."
