Teesside prepares for travellers

The travelling community are gradually losing sites

Police and councils on Teesside are expecting large numbers of travellers at the funeral of a man who died in police custody.

Talks are being held on Tuesday between senior police officers and council officials on how to cope with the inlux.

About 100 travellers invaded an official site in South Bank last week to attend the funeral of a Stockton man, who died in police custody in North Yorkshire.

But the funeral was put back to allow for an inquest, and councils officials do not want a repeat of problems when it is held in about two weeks.

Growing problem

Redcar and Cleveland Council aims to obtain an eviction order from a judge at Teesside Crown Court on Wednesday to remove the handful of remaining travellers from the South Bank site.

Contractors, who fled the scene after threats of intimidation, will return to inspect the damage caused to refurbishment work.

David Walsh, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, told BBC Radio Cleveland: "The majority [of travellers] moved on Saturday night... hopefully by the end of the day we will have a court order to get the rest of the people out.

Problem for area

"Our next step is to secure the site to stop a similar invasion occurring over the next few days if the other groups which are rumoured to be on their way turn up.

"It becomes a problem for the whole Teesside area.

"That is why there is a meeting today (Tuesday) to look at contingency planning."