A LAW giving police powers to remove trespassers has been used only a handful of times in the past five years to evict illegally-camped travellers in Derbyshire, the Telegraph can reveal.
The news has sparked anger from residents who have seen traveller camps set up near their homes.
Derby City Council says it can take between two and three weeks for it to get an eviction order through the criminal courts.
But the police can issue an eviction notice within hours of a camp being set up if they use the law.
Derbyshire police say they follow national guidelines on whether to act under Section 61 of the Criminal Law and Public Order Act 1994.
These say there should be "aggravating factors" before officers use their eviction powers.
A spokesman said the force did not keep records of how many times it had used the law and that the figure is "at least two" in the past five years – but officers could not recall other instances.
Last week, CCTV appeared to show one traveller trying to use bolt cutters to get through a chain on a gate to a field in Hobson Drive,Spondon.
Christopher Sisson, 53, who lives in the road, said: "Under the current guidelines, the police become the rescuers of the travellers, not the citizens.
"The way the law and the current guidelines work is not fit for purpose."
One place where travellers have regularly set up camp over the years is Derby's Racecourse, where locals have previously spoken of being intimidated.
Marjorie Walker, 68, who lives off St Mark's Road, said: "I think the police should use the law more often, if they are able – straight away if possible – because of the rubbish that the travellers leave behind.
"In the past, it's meant that I haven't been able to take my grandchildren on to the park."
Derbyshire police say they follow guidelines set out by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
When the Derby Telegraph contacted the association, we were told this was now an area dealt with by the Royal College of Policing.
A Royal College spokeswoman said she understood the definition of "aggravating factors" to be "where behaviour or conduct is considered to be inappropriate, or when the impact of an encampment on others is deemed unacceptable".
But she said officers should be "sensitive to the fact that there is a lack of pitches on authorised sites across the country, making it difficult or even impossible for people to avoid setting up unauthorised pitches".
Figures would seem to back that point, with 17 council-run traveller plots in Derby, 10 in South Derbyshire and none in Erewash, Amber Valley or the Derbyshire Dales.
The spokeswoman said: "The shortage of suitable sites for families to live on and access as they move around the country leads to groups setting up unauthorised encampments, thus creating the biggest single source of conflict between the travelling and settled communities.
"It is essential that the police response to an unauthorised encampment takes account of behaviour, whether criminal, anti-social or nuisance", rather than "simply because an encampment is present".
Section 61 authorises the officer in charge to evict if they believe two or more people intend to stay on a site without the owner's permission, "reasonable steps" have been taken by the owner to remove them, and there are six or more vehicles parked on the land.
That was what happened in the two instances police recalled when eviction under the law was authorised.
These were to remove travellers from school grounds in Long Eaton in 2012 and from a rugby pitch in the city in 2009.
On both occasions, the travellers left without needing to be forcibly evicted.
Janie Berry, Derby City Council's director of legal and democratic services, said the date of an eviction hearing was not something the council determined and it could take several days to get a hearing date.
She added: "Travellers sometimes leave when the court gives them notice of the hearing date, or on the actual hearing date.
"If they do not, we then have to ask the court for a warrant to forcibly remove them.
"We have no control over the date of eviction. In all, if the travellers do not comply, the whole process can take two or three weeks."
THE Royal College of Policing says the following are examples of what it means by "aggravating factors" of an encampment when it comes to whether section 61 should be used:
Where an encampment is on any part of a recreation ground, public park, school field, village green, or deprives the public of car parks.
Where a camp is on a shopping centre car park or in an industrial estate,
if it disrupts workers or customers, or land which is being used for farming.
Where behaviour, directly related to those present at an encampment, is so significant that a quick eviction by police becomes necessary.
Where there is a danger to life such as an encampment by a motorway.
Where there is a group of trespassers which has persistently displayed anti-social behaviour at previous sites and it is reasonably believed the same will happen again at the new site.
