CAN YOU DIG IT?
Shocking moment travellers use a DIGGER to smash up fence before driving their caravans onto playing fields
Hole dug in the barrier allowed 20 vehicles onto council playing fields in West Bromwich last night
BRAZEN travellers were caught on video using a mechanical digger to smash their way into playing fields before setting up camp last night.
A resident filmed from a nearby house as wooden barriers were ripped up, allowing 20 vehicles onto the council land.
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The footage shows the digger bucking as the arm grips the low fence before finally tugging two sections of it out of the ground.
The space cleared was wide enough for a convoy of vans towing mobile homes to drive onto the grass in West Bromwich, West Mids.
Police and council officials said they used the video evidence to convince the invaders to leave the site or else face prosecution for criminal damage.
The group had left less then three hours later, at around 10.30pm on Thursday.
Jan Britton, chief executive of Sandwell Council, said: “This is another example of us working with the police to remove unauthorised encampments as quickly as possible.
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“The fence was torn down in front of the eyes of residents, who captured the act on their mobile phones.
“This was incredibly useful evidence for the council and the police - it meant we could show criminal damage was committed to gain access to the field.
“I’d encourage anyone who spots this sort of criminal activity, if they can do so safely and without putting anybody at risk, to capture it on camera and hand the evidence to the police and council.”
The council it has has dealt with more than 90 unauthorised encampments with the cost of clean-ups, site security, bailiffs and court costs adding up to more than £250,000 in the last year.
Earlier today we told how travellers have hung washing lines around a children's play area where they have set up camp in Broughton, North ales.
And another group of travellers managed to set up at a Devon beauty spot despite a 40-ton barricade meant to keep them out.
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