Workers have been cleaning up the mess left behind by a group of travellers who turned Leigh Marshes into a temporary campsite.

Up to 20 families with caravans moved on to the site on Two Tree Island last Wednesday and vowed they would be staying for as long as they could.

However, council bosses immediately served notices to quit on the group and were contemplating their next step yesterday (Wednesday) when the travellers unexpectedly moved on.

The news was welcomed by Peter Wexham (Lib Dem, Leigh) who called for security to be stepped up at the site to prevent travellers setting up home again.

A council spokeswoman confirmed the travellers began leaving the site at about midday and the final caravan moved off by 4pm.

Mr Wexham said: "I am just delighted to see them gone but of course, our gain is someone else's loss.

"I don't know where they are off to next."

When the group came to the site last week they said they were landscape gardeners and were looking for business in the area.

They had already visited Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Newquay and Torquay this year but had originally come from Wales and Shropshire.

Mr Wexham said he would now be calling on the council to improve security at the site to prevent more travellers using it as a campsite in the future.

He said: "It's an open space for the public and particularly with the summer holidays on us it's a place where children come to play, to fly kites and kick footballs.

"On top of that there are no facilities there, no toilets, no running water.

"So often in cases like this, the mess is left behind for the locals to clean up and pay for."

Site check - recreation officer Paul Jenkinson surveys the mess left on Leigh marshes

Picture: MAXINE CLARKE

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