Travellers were moved on from multiple Truro sites in the city.

A fleet of caravans set up camp at Tregurra Park and Ride on Monday, July 8, and upon being moved on, settled at Tremorvah playing field late in the evening on Tuesday, July 9.

A spokesperson for Truro City Council, which owns the playing field, said it had been working closely with Cornwall Council and the Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Officer from Devon and Cornwall Police.

Council officers visited the site on Thursday and met with members of the travelling community to serve an eviction notice. An agreement was made that the site would be vacated on the morning of Monday, July 15 — however, the vehicles had gone by Sunday afternoon, and council staff attended the site to clean up.

Paul Caruana, whose property backs onto the playing field, said the area immediately outside of his back gate “was used as a toilet and the whole area was strewn with used toilet paper”.

In an email to city councillors and Cllr Carol Mould, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for neighbourhoods, Mr Caruana described how 15 vehicles crossed the soccer pitch and remained for six days, during which time “local schools, football teams and casual users have all been denied access to use of the park”.

He demanded that “appropriate action be taken to secure the playing field…with entry barriers that cannot be easily removed” to avoid a repeat of the event.

The action follows similar incidents across the county. In April, Imerys saw travellers pitch up in the car park of its Par laboratories for a couple of days. And earlier this month, Newquay Sports Centre evicted travellers from its lower sports field and employed a security team to reassure to gym users.

Across the county, there is a recognised shortage of pitches for travellers. The adopted Cornwall Local Plan for 2020-2030 identified a total need of 318 residential pitches and 60 transit pitches by 2030. To date 149 private residential pitches and 15 social transit pitches have been approved.