The Police deserve our praise for taking action as quickly as they could and issued a Section 61 notice to require the Travellers to leave. If they had not exercised their powers then an eviction Court Order would have to be acquired which could have taken over a week to obtain.
The Travellers occupied disabled parking spots outside Morley Sports Centre early on Tuesday morning with the unauthorised encampment also occupying greenspace adjacent to the skate park. Leeds City Council made a none toleration decision on the Tuesday and MBI councillors made a formal request for the Police to use their powers to evict after Council Officers undertook the welfare visit they are legally obliged to undertake.
The Police have powers under Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which requires Travellers to move immediately should a Police Officer issue such a direction. The Police only use these powers selectively and I am pleased they chose to use a Section 61 direction to clear the unauthorised encampment as quickly as possible.
The section 61 notice also bans the travellers from returning to the site within a 3 month period or face court action.
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