Sheriff orders travellers to leave Linlithgow site after reports of vandalism and damage

Travellers occupying land at the Xcite campus in Linlithgow are set to be moved on.

Local councillors in the town told on Tuesday that a Sheriff had signed papers to serve notice.

It comes almost a week after travellers set up an authorised encampment at the site in McGinlay Way in the town, one of several set up across the county in recent weeks.

There have already been reports of nuisance and vandalism at the site, including playing pitches torn up by vehicles, with reports of cars “ donutting” on playing fields, destroying playing surfaces.

The travellers moved onto the site last Wednesday- the day after the council agreed its new policy framework on how to deal with an issue which hit communities across the county last summer and left the council with a clean-up bill running into tens of thousands of pounds.

An unauthorised camp at the Linlithgow site last summer took contractors weeks to access and clear up because of soggy ground conditions.

The decree against the latest encampment was issued on Tuesday morning with immediate effect. The council’s legal officers arranged for Sheriff Officers to serve notice in the travelling families.

Should the travellers fail to vacate the site, Police Scotland and an external contractor’s low loaders will attend to assist the Safer Neighbourhood Team officers.

Chairing a meeting of the Linlithgow Local Area Committee this morning, Councillor Sally Pattle thanked council officers for providing daily updates on the Xcite encampment, given the interest from local people and the question she and other members had faced over the latest arrival.

Last week, the Local Democracy Reporting Service highlighted the difficulties that the council will continue to face under existing legislation.

West Lothian, along with other local authorities, has to seek written permission from a Sheriff before it can act to move travellers on.

There were doubts expressed last week, as the LDRS highlighted that without a change of legislation, there will be no improvement