The Mayor of Watford has responded emphatically to arguments proposing the construction of permanent traveller sites in the vicinity of the town.

Following a spate of recent illegal traveller incursions into parks and green spaces across the county, the head of the gypsy and traveller section at Hertfordshire County Council said building more caravan sites was the only way to fix the problem in the long-term.

However Mayor Dorothy Thornhill, who will step down from her role next year, disagreed, stating the recent influx was somewhat of an anomaly and that building more sites would simply encourage more travellers to descend on the area.   

“I won’t be leading the charge for a traveller site in Watford. It is my belief that if you do provide them with a site, you then become a magnet,” she said.

“We are the smallest geographical borough in the country so we are struggling to find sites for houses, let alone traveller sites. My priority is homes for local people.”

The travellers who recently occupied land at Radlett Road Playing Fields, and subsequently at Knutsford Playing Fields have now left the borough.

They were evacuated from the site in a joint effort between Watford Borough Council, police and bailiffs.

Veolia is currently clearing the site. 

Mayor Thornhill added: “As always, we acted swiftly and followed the correct legal process to remove these travellers from our land, which took less than 72 hours.

"We now also have a court order allowing us to move directly to eviction should this group re-occupy our land within three months.

"The effectiveness of our response is not typical of all local authorities, and is in no small way due to the joint working we have with the police and Veolia, as well as the outstanding work by our diligent, committed and highly skilled team here at Watford Borough Council.”