Reading Borough Council served 30 legal eviction notices to remove Travellers in caravans from council land between 2020 and 2024, an FOI shows.
The notices are 'Written Directions' under section 77 of the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994 and force people in vehicles on land to leave and remove their vehicles and belongings.
They're used when people are living in vehicles on highway land, unoccupied land, or occupied land without the occupier's consent.
By year: 2020: 0; 2021: 7; 2022: 10; 2023: 9; 2024: 4 - total 30.
Asked about legal costs, the council replied:
"Legal fees incurred in dealing with traveller encampments has ranged anywhere between approximately £70 up to approximately £2,500 including bailiff costs.
"It depends on a number of factors including (i) how much work this Legal Service has to undertake (ii) the size of the encampment (iii) whether court action is required and (iv) whether the instruction of bailiffs is required and if so, the number of bailiffs required."
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
