Hundreds of traveller caravans pitched up in Oxfordshire

Data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show there were 300 traveller caravans recorded in West Oxfordshire, 159 in the Vale of White Horse and 78 in South Oxfordshire during January.

In West Oxfordshire, this was down from down from 304 the year before, in Vale of White Horse it was up from 147 and up from it was up from 76 in South Oxfordshire.

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Of the caravan sites recorded this year, six in South Oxfordshire did not have planning permission.

The data also shows there were spaces for 32 caravans at local authority and privately-owned sites in West Oxfordshire, 72 sites in the Vale of White Horse and 74 caravans in South Oxfordshire.

There was a heavy presence of travellers on the Recreation Ground in Marston in May who remained on site more than 48 hours after being served with an eviction notice by the council.

Travellers in Marston (Image: Sharon Bryan)

A group of travellers then pitched up in Abingdon on the recreation ground near Dunmore Road in June. 

The Friends, Families and Travellers charity has been celebrating Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month and has called on the government to tackle the accommodation crisis facing the community.

A spokeswoman at Friends, Families and Travellers, which works on behalf of Gyspy, Roma and Traveller communities across the UK, said: "The chronic shortage of safe stopping places means that over 3,000 Gypsy and Traveller families are left with little to no options about where to stop and rest, and live in fear of retribution."

Travellers in Abingdon in June (Image: Newsquest)

Nationally, the total number of Traveller caravans was 25,333 in January. About 87 per cent of which was on authorised land.

There were 3,187 caravans on unapproved sites, a 10 per cent increase from the year before. These were primarily on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller-owned land.

The charity added that the government’s new Traveller Site Fund grants is welcomed, but added only one of the 16 grants awarded went towards the development of a new transit site.

"This falls far short of tackling the current accommodation crisis, and more must be done to provide travelling with much-needed security," the charity said.

The government recently announced an allocation of £10 million in funding towards improving Traveller sites in nine councils across England – including Kent, Lancaster, Cornwall, Swindon, and Preston.

Minister for Levelling Up, Dehenna Davison, said: "We are supporting councils to improve Travellers’ life chances and build cohesion between the settled and Traveller communities.

"This funding is just one of the many ways we are improving opportunities for communities across the country, as part of the Levelling Up agenda."