CLEAN-UP bills for Withymoor are expected to run into thousands following the eviction of travellers who left litter and waste across three sites in the area.

Dudley Council will have to foot the bill after three separate areas of parkland and open space off Turners Lane were swamped with caravans which were eventually moved on by police using section 61 powers on Wednesday (July 5).

Specialist independent cleaning teams have been drafted in to clear the sites of rubbish and human waste which was reportedly strewn across the grassy areas and the trees.

Amblecote councillor Paul Bradley said: “It’s not very nice.

“The clean-up is already under way. Withymoor Park is going to be jet washed and sterilised.”

He said he hoped the areas would be clean and safe for the public to use again within days and he added: “I don’t know what the costs will be – it’s a little bit too early to say but last year the bill for two sites in Withymoor was £6,000.”

Councillor Patrick Harley, new leader of Dudley Council, said the clean-up bill was likely to be in the region of £7,000 or £8,000 – in addition to the approximate £14,000 it has already cost to move on travellers from other sites in the borough this year.

He said: “It’s a lot of money and it’s money we haven’t got.”

Cllr Harley said thanks to the “tough stance” taken by the council and the police to evict the settlers - the borough was now a “traveller free zone”.

But he stressed: “Not all traveller groups are bad. Some just get on with it, clean up after themselves and go after a few days but the last few visits we’ve had have been awful.”

The caravans parked up in Withymoor for the last few days are believed to have headed onto Bromsgrove yesterday afternoon.