A large group of travellers set up camp on a car park near a Wednesbury retail park yesterday (May 27).
A huge convoy of caravans were pictured pitched up near Gallagher Retail Park, just off Axletree Way.
The retail park is home to a number of big name shops including B&Q, IKEA, Costa Coffee, Decathlon and Greggs.
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Sandwell Council told BirminghamLive this morning that the group had ‘moved on’.
The authority said the landowners of the private site ‘acted immediately to threaten enforcement action’.
“This led to the caravans moving on after just over 24 hours,” a spokesperson said.
On the authority’s website, it says ‘council officers and the police are required by law’ to ‘assess the travellers’ needs within 24 hours of being notified’.
Checks are made on ‘the tidiness of the site’, ‘whether the highway or public rights of way have been blocked’, and ‘the level of disruption to residents and businesses’.
It adds: “The Government advises that, where travellers are following a code of conduct, they may be allowed to stay for a short period before moving on.
“However, should the occupants of the encampment fail to follow the code of conduct, the council can immediately start proceedings to remove them.
“The council will not take steps to remove unauthorised encampments from private land, but in some circumstances might be able to offer the landowner advice and assistance.
“The council cannot give the landowner legal advice and/or recommend any particular course of legal action.
“Private landowners do have powers they can use to evict trespassers from the land they own but should seek their own independent legal advice about how to use those powers.
“There can be serious consequences for any landowner who does not follow the correct, lawful procedures.
“Any anti-social and criminal behaviour must be brought to the attention of West Midlands Police by calling 101 the non-emergency telephone number.”