A group of travellers who moved on to a coach park on Clacton seafront were today given an ultimatum.

Twelve caravans, lorries and vans have moved on to the coach park in West Road. They arrived on Wednesday and within hours residents called for action to have them removed.

On Thursday police served the travellers with a notice asking them to move on.

They have been given until 6pm today (Friday) or risk having their vehicles impounded.

A police spokesman said today: "It is not a course of action we have taken lightly but, as the land is a public car park overlooked on two sides by residential accommodation, we felt it necessary to do so to ensure it is cleared by the weekend."

Tendring councillor Roy Smith said he had been flooded with complaints - as had the council's switchboard.

And their arrival has also prompted new calls for a permanent gipsy site in Tendring.

Mr Smith said: "If there was a proper gipsy site in the district they could be moved onto it, and this further highlights the desperate need for one."

He said the coach park was not an ideal place for the travellers to stay as it did not have the necessary facilities.

A spokesman for Tendring Council - which owns the land - said consultations were taking place with Essex County Council's gipsy liaison officer and the council's own legal representatives.

"Everything possible is being done to evict the travellers from the coach park as quickly as possible and return the site to its normal usage," he added.

Insp Peter Smith, of Clacton police, said they had also received complaints from residents.

These had been passed on to Tendring Council to deal with as the owners of the site, he added.

A county council spokeswoman said the council's gipsy liaison officer had been informed and was due to visit the site to make a full assessment. "He will be going down there to see what action can be taken," she added.

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