Travellers in Portchester shopping precinct car park say they plan to move on soon

More than six mobile homes and several other vehicles arrived in the Jubilee Road car park owned by Fareham Borough Council on Sunday evening.

A member of the group said they had stopped in the car park to look after a pregnant traveller who had fallen sick, and that they now planned to leave the site on Thursday.

A spokeswoman from Fareham Borough Council said the local authority had already begun legal work to have the group move on.

She said: ‘I can confirm that the travellers were at Malthouse Lane car park in Fareham town area until (Sunday).

‘They left of their own accord, leaving the area extremely clean with minimal litter and the car park is now operating normally.

‘We were made aware that they have now moved to the car park in Portchester, which is also owned by the council and we will, of course, now do the necessary checks and commence legal processes for that location.’

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A Fareham resident who works in the precinct, and asked not to be named, said there had been concerns about a lack of space in the car park since the group’s arrival.

She said: ‘It’s the lack of space that is the big issues. We haven’t heard of any other issues.’

Portchester East representative Councillor Roger Price said encampments in car parks represented a growing problem in the borough.

Cllr Price said: ‘We have never usually suffered encampments in car parks before.

‘The car park used to have height barriers that would have stopped them getting in. They were removed a long, long time ago.

‘I have asked the council officers to look at putting them back because that would stop them getting in. If necessary I will put a motion to the council.’

This summer has seen several stand-offs between local authorities and traveller encampments, with Milton Common and the D-Day Story car park in Southsea both targeted.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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