Thousands of pounds of public money is being spent on moving travellers from council land in Burnham-On-Sea.
Sedgemoor District Council told Burnham-On-Sea.com this week that it is facing a constant stream of work to move travellers parked in the town.
The legal costs of moving each group runs into hundreds of pounds – a figure that is rising as the summer draws on.
Council spokeswoman Claire Faun told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It is nearly impossible to put an average cost on traveller incursions onto council-owned land.”
“The only fixed costs are the court fee – £355 is for issuing the claim. That is payable once for each group. There are no further court fees in attending court – just officer time.”
She added: “We do not cost our solicitors time. Any staff time costs – which can be up to several hours in visits to the site, preparing court papers, attending court, re-visiting the site with the legal documentation – are absorbed as part of the day-to-day work of our legal department.”
“When it comes to the clear-up, there is no average cost. Some travellers leave the area in a good state whereby not much or any additional cleaning is needed. Other times, we may have to deploy our clean surroundings staff for a period of time.”
Pictured: Top, travellers in Burnham’s seafront car park this week and, above, on the Esplanade grass verge earlier this year and, below, at Highbridge railway station last month
