TRAVELLERS who set up camp in the centre of Selby have been given until lunchtime tomorrow to pack up and leave town, after the landowner took legal action to get rid of them.

Selby police yesterday delivered a court order to the travellers, telling them to leave the recreation field off Scott Road, behind Abbey Walk Retail Park, where they have been based for the past ten days.

Selby Community Trust, whose clerk is Tina Mason, had earlier secured a court order allowing it to claim immediate possession of the land.

It is now hoped the park will be back in the hands of the community trust by the end of the week.

Last week, the Evening Press reported the arrival of the Irish group, which provoked the anger of local residents.

Vehicles started arriving on the field on Sunday, September 18.

Within 48 hours, there were about 20 cars, caravans, lorries and vans.

One Alma Terrace resident, Dean Holroyd, said at the time: "A lot of people use this land to walk their dogs."

He said: "I am not very happy. My flat faces out there. I woke up on Monday morning and got the shock of my life."

The travellers initially said they planned to leave last Saturday, following a wedding. But this week the group was no smaller than before.

Tina Mason said she had not really believed they would be gone by the weekend, but said it was important to get them off the field.

She said: "We cannot use the land for what we want to use it for. It's intimidating for people, and the vehicles are churning up our field.

"The community trust is a charity, and the legal fees and cost of clearing it up are things we could well do without."

Ms Mason visited the site yesterday afternoon shortly after police had delivered the order. She said: "It gives the community trust immediate possession of the land, which means we can reclaim the land."

She said: "We would have liked them to have been gone sooner than this, but as long as they are gone tomorrow, that's fine."

Andrew Faulkes, senior partner at Crombie Wilkinson which represented the community trust in court, said: "I am really pleased that we have been able to use the special court procedures for the benefit of the local community."

Updated: 09:59 Wednesday, September 28, 2005