The traveller community can pose issues to businesses if they gain unauthorised access to your commercial premises. If not managed properly the process of proper safe and effective removal can become drawn out and expensive. That’s why if you find yourself in this scenario it’s important to work with an expert team who can resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
Traveller Site Removal Experts
We are highly experienced in following the legal requirements to ensure compliance when removing travellers from your site, ensuring the safety of all parties, and offering ongoing support to help protect your location in the future.
As part of our protection work for a recent client, we directly managed this process from start to finish – liaising and working with all parties to facilitate removal. We undertook several measures as part of this process, including:
Communication
Our first action was to attempt to engage in an initial dialogue with the travellers to resolve amicably, in this instance this proved unsuccessful which helped us gauge how challenging the situation could become.
Following this we deployed a team of Enforcement Agents to site, the majority of our enforcement agents are ex-armed forces with proven ability in negotiation tactics that have been acquired on operational tours around the world, each of our enforcement agents wears blue high viz vests, community support stab vest, pinnacle body worn CCTV, white shirt, black combats and boots to maintain our professional image and ensure compliance and safety for all whilst on site. To ensure we have some control over the situation we use a minimum of 1 enforcement agent for every 2 caravans for safety and insurance purposes.
We then informed the police of the situation and travellers at the site, including information like the volume of people, caravans, and animals. We also brief them on behavioural issues and the atmosphere on site and/or any damage at the location.
Police resources are usually limited and in this specific instance were unable to remove the travellers from the site. Furthermore, when trying to obtain the required legal documentation, a Section 61 order, was also unable to be provided immediately due to the site being breached after working hours. We then understood that we would have to manage the situation and protect our client’s assets throughout that evening into the following day whilst we obtained the relevant court order.
Serving and Removal
Following hard work behind the scenes our management team served an eviction of trespassers notice at 08:00, these eviction notices can be enforced either by high-court writ of possession or Halsbury law of England and Wales (Common Law).
Once the eviction notice had been served, we continued our communication with the travellers, and they complied with the notice and left the site at 11:00 the same day without further issues or any damage being caused to our client’s assets.
Ongoing security planning
Once the immediate issues with traveller camps had been resolved, we were then able to place 6 concrete barriers across the site entrance within 30 minutes to ensure the site was secure and no further attempts were made on this site, we worked closely with our client to put together a detailed plan covering how to improve overall security monitoring to avoid similar situations in the future.
We offer this service to all potential sites at risk including Vacant Properties and areas of land, starting with a no-obligation comprehensive needs analysis to highlight the site-specific requirements and any potential vulnerabilities with your current security infrastructure.
What problems can be caused by traveller camps?
There are several problems which can lead to significant expenses for your business if travellers are able to illegally enter your premises. These include:
Damage to property: When travellers access commercial premises there is a risk of accidental or deliberate damage to the property. This could involve anything from trying to access facilities through to damage to the building fabric or grounds from force or heavy vehicles.
Theft of property: If valuable business assets are left on site, then they become at risk of theft, Vacant properties are a huge target for copper, lead and other valuable commodities that can be stripped from the building fabric, even just a single night at your location can lead to significant losses if you’re not taking wider precautions.
Waste removal: Traveller sites leave quite a mess, including rubbish and in some cases hazardous materials and even human waste. It is likely that you will need to undertake additional clearance/cleaning services if travellers are able to access your location, we have teams of multi-skilled operatives that are well-versed in dealing with post-traveller waste removal.
How can I protect my site from being accessed by travellers?
There are several steps your business can take to ensure that your site if fully secure. Whilst some sites may have specific requirements, we can recommend some basic steps which you should have in place to ensure compliance with your property insurance:
Security patrols and CCTV monitoring
Based on your needs, it’s possible to arrange direct patrols of your location at specific intervals throughout the day and night. It’s also possible to remotely monitor your premises using CCTV cameras – either with a temporary CCTV tower or an installed CCTV system.
Barriers & vacant property protection
Steel sheeting for entry points on any vacant buildings is important, along with barriers to block any empty car parks or tarmacked areas where vehicles easily stop. We would encourage you to plan out all access points to your site to make sure they are all covered.
Planned & reactive maintenance for your security infrastructure
As a business, you need to make sure that you’re looking after the protective measures that you’re putting in place. For example, a new entry system is only as strong as a faulty lock or broken barrier. It’s essential to keep your systems well maintained with commercial property maintenance, along with having someone on hand in the case of an emergency problem to resolve.
If you’re not currently implementing any of these measures, then we’d love to help you plan out the best way to improve your overall asset protection – so please contact us for a no-obligation needs analysis today!
