A GROUP of travellers who appeared at the Stanway Sainsbury's carpark in the early hours of this morning have now moved on.

The convoy of vehicles and mobile homes were spotted parked up in the Stanway Sainsbury’s car park at 6.45am.

However the travellers were only on site for several hours, eventually leaving at around 10.30 this morning, after meeting with police and local councillors.

Councillor Tracy Arnold, of the Stanway ward, attended the site earlier this morning as the travellers were relocating.

She said: “I went down to site myself and spoke to the policing team, who were very helpful.

“The unlawful encampment has decided peacefully to move on, with two vehicles already leaving as I had arrived, as the rest were in the process of leaving the site.

“The whole situation was very amicable and there has been no impact on the community at all.”

An amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was passed on Tuesday, June 28. The bill has given police greater powers to tackle encampments.

The PCSC Act has created a new offence for England and Wales, and given greater power for police to seize property, including vehicles, where individuals reside on land with a vehicle.

The offence will be committed if a person who resides or intends to reside in a vehicle fails to leave the land or remove their property without reasonable excuse when asked to do so.

The maximum penalty will be three months imprisonment or a fine of up to £2,500, or both.