A BAND OF travellers has descended on a playing field near the Sterte Esplanade in Poole sparking fears they could turn it into a rubbish tip.

On Friday afternoon half-a-dozen caravans set up camp at the site near Holes Bay, which is a popular play area for local children, but dozens more arrived overnight.

Worried residents neighbouring the council-owned field fear a repeat of the devastation left in the wake of the travellers ousted from a sports arena behind 2Riversmeet Leisure Centre, in Christchurch last week.

There the borough council spent £13,000 clearing up human excrement, heaps of building rubble, overflowing skips and the wreckage of a caravan left behind when the travellers moved on.

Caroline Phillips, who lives next to the Sterte Esplanade, said: "I haven't got an issue with the travellers themselves because they have to stay somewhere, but I am worried about what will happen with all the human waste.

"I think the council should provide cubicles and a site for them, otherwise this will keep on recurring elsewhere and the council will react after the event."

Another resident who would not be named said: "Local people are not happy and many are frightened. Some mothers won't let their kids out while the travellers are there.

"We want court action and we want them off before they ruin the place."

Inspector Charlie Parker explained that it would be up to Poole Council to decide what action to take on Monday, but added that there had been no reports of any incidents at the site over the weekend.

He was unable to confirm whether it was the same group of travellers who were evicted from 2Riversmeet.

First published: Sept 6