COMPLAINTS have been made about rubbish left on a York field for almost two weeks after Travellers left the site.

Unsecured black bin bags, items of clothing and drinks containers were still on the site this morning (August 8) near fencing on the field close to Bursary Play Park in Dringhouses.

York Press: Some damage left behind will take longer to repairSome damage left behind will take longer to repair (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Travellers vacated the site in the last week of July after receiving a ‘Direction to Leave’ notice enforced by York magistrates.

Fence panels and muddied tyre tracks were left on the grass at an area off Sim Balk Lane behind York College – part of which houses All Saints RC School changing rooms and pitches.

Stephen Fenton, a Liberal Democrat ward councillor representing Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, said he was advised by the council’s neighbourhood enforcement team on July 25 that they would arrange site clearance once the travellers left.

York Press: The open bin bags on the field being used by a jogger this morningThe open bin bags on the field being used by a jogger this morning (Image: Kevin Glenton)

The path is popular with commuters and joggers, meeting National Cycle Route 65 near Sim Balk Lane before joining Tadcaster Road.

Damaged fencing was left behind and a large concrete bollard had been moved to one side of a path, so that vehicles could gain access to and from a nearby nature reserve.

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A dog-walker said he’d come face-to-face with a car on the path last month.

Cllr Fenton said: “I was advised on July 24 by the council’s transport team that the concrete ring that was moved by the travellers would be put back in position and some weight added, to make it more difficult to move.

“This hasn’t happened, and so I have asked council officers for an update.”

The councillor said he met officials from York College, All Saints RC School and the council to discuss the clearance of other debris from the nature reserve as well as the playing fields.

The discussion also considered what steps could be taken to avoid a repeat incursion of the field.

Access is said to have been gained by the same route at least twice in the past 15 months.

A spokesperson for City of York Council said they had nothing more to add to Cllr Fenton's comments.