Travellers camp row threatens run

Legal efforts to move the camp could take weeks

A sporting event may have to be cancelled after a group of travellers set up camp near a Leicester course.

About 20 caravans and 12 horses settled illegally at Western Park last week forcing a schools' cross country run for 2,000 children to be postponed.

The race was rescheduled for 1 November but organisers said the site would have to be cleared before it could go ahead.

Officials also said a clean-up, likely to cost thousands of pounds, would cost more the longer the travellers stayed.

The city councillor for Western Park, Peter Coley, said: "The last time we had to clear up something like this it cost us about £7,000.

"I think we can say that the longer they will be there the more mess they will create.

"Of course there are events like the cross country that happen very often and there is the risk more may have to be cancelled if we can't get the camp to move on."

Although the race was over three weeks away, the process to move such a camp could take much of that time and race organisers needed notice some days in advance, they said.