COTSWOLD District Council (CDC) has ruled out erecting height barriers to prevent travellers from staying in a Cirencester car park.

Calls have been made to find a solution to the recurring problem after about a dozen caravans appeared in The Beeches Car Park last Tuesday.

It followed similar incidents in May, as well as November and June last year.

The arrival provoked a strong reaction from residents, with some demanding action and others suggesting they should pay for the spaces they use.

CDC has a permanent injunction on the Beeches Car Park, which they can serve to anyone they want to vacate it.

The group were shown the injunction and had all left by Sunday evening but evicting travellers from the Beeches over the past five years has cost CDC £5,000 CDC Liberal Democrat leader Joe Harris told the Standard: “The situation is getting ridiculous now and I’m frustrated that there seems to be no urgency from CDC to get travellers sites in the Cotswolds set-up.

“There also needs to be steps taken to secure the Beeches Car Park so this can’t keep happening. It’s not fair on residents that live nearby and it removes vital car parking spaces.”

Travellers also parked-up on Army land opposite 29 Regiment on Cirencester Road last week, but were served an eviction notice by the MoD.

A CDC spokesman said: “Following the last illegal encampment in the Beeches car park during May, the CDC Parking Demand Project Board considered the pros and cons of installing a barrier there.

“There are two key reasons for not adopting this proposal: one is that it would prevent legitimate larger vehicles parking. The second is that if we prevent access to this car park then the travellers may use an alternative car park where we do not have an injunction in place, and this means that we would be unable to take such swift enforcement action.

He added that height barriers were “not feasible” because “vans, campervans, minibuses, larger cars with roof boxes or bikes on the roof would have nowhere to park”.

In Thornbury in south Gloucestershire, a height barrier has been installed at the Rock Street car park to keep out travellers who repeatedly set up camp there.