Travellers move onto pitch at Fleetwood Rugby Club - which says events have to be cancelled

Eight vans parked up on the second team pitch at Fleetwood Rugby Club, on Melbourne Avenue, last night (Wednesday May 18) an it is understood they will not be moving on until this Sunday.

The club say they have had to cancel two children’s sports events and a Country and Western evening for safety reasons.

Police have been onto the site to talk with the travellers who say they will be leaving by the end of the weekend.

Colin Goodwin, chairman of Fleetwood Rugby Club, said: “I drove my car up to where they were parked and they basically warned me to move it.

"The police have been down and had a word with them but the vans will not be moving until Sunday.

"The travellers have children running around the place and we are having to give them a wide berth.

"That is going to affect things here– we’ve had to cancel two children’s sports games we had planned, which is disappointing for everyone involved.

"We’ve also had to cancel a Country and Western night because we can’t risk any trouble that might occur if these people came into the bar.

"The high school across the road, Cardinal Allen, often uses our all weather pitch but we’ve had to advise them not to come.

"It is something we could do without.”

Although a court injunction can be put into place to move travellers on from someone’s private land, this can taka a number of days to come into effect.

On social media groups in Fleetwood, there were mixed feeling about the travellers.

Some felt that the travellers were just passing through and simply needed a place to rest up for a few days and should be left alone, but others said they were trespassing and causing unwelcome disruption.

It was suggested by one Facebook user that there should be more designated areas for travellers to park up on.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “We were called at 9.41pm last night (May 18) to reports of travellers on the site of Fleetwood Rugby Club, Melbourne Avenue.

"Officers from our Neighbourhood Team are aware of the situation.”