High Court bailiffs are set to order travellers off land on the edge of Harborough

Travellers parked on land near new homes on the edge of Market Harborough are to be ordered off on Wednesday (July 22).

The Irish group of five caravans and six horses will be told to leave the site near the new Wellington Place estate off Leicester Road by a High Court bailiff.

The bailiff is set to arrive and issue the order between midday and 1pm on Wednesday, the Harborough Mail understands.

The travellers, who suddenly set up camp on the picturesque green by the canal last Wednesday night (July 15), will be given 24 hours to pack up and go.

And if they don’t then they will face further legal action.

The group is being forced to leave after the builders’ consortium which owns the land went straight to the High Court to obtain an injunction after they pitched up.

The latest development comes as furious residents are accusing the travellers of dumping rubbish all over the green.

Cllr Phil King, who leads Harborough District Council, said: “I understand the landowner is seeking a legal injunction to force these travellers to move on.

“It’s the responsibility of the landowner to clean up the land and I’m sure they’ll do that in due course.”

He said the district council has nine established traveller sites throughout Harborough.

“We also have transit sites, too, for groups such as this one which are passing through from place to place.

“We have adequate provision here in Harborough,” said Cllr King.

“But the trouble is that a number of other districts in Leicestershire have no sites at all.

“And that puts more pressure on us as a result and this sort of thing happens.”

The incident has been reported to Harborough police while Leicestershire and Leicester City Multi Agency Travellers Unit has also visited the group.