Vandals target Meriden protest camp

[dutchman]

A camp set up to protest against a nearby travellers’s site has been vandalised.



About £100 damage was done to the camp – which was set up without planning permission – in the attack in Eaves Green Lane, Meriden, between Thursday and Friday.

A wood burner was pushed over and timber was strewn across the road.

Protesters say that no-one was manning the 24-hour camp at the time because of sickness.

They have called for a nearby CCTV camera to be switched on, after claiming there has been a spike in crime in the area.

Blaming travellers for objecting to the camera - which is metres away from the site – protester David McGrath said: “The police attendance at incidents has been good but we need preventative action too and we believe that the camera would help.

“This is political correctness gone mad.

“Our right to protection and security is as valid as anyone else’s.”

The Telegraph understands that travellers did not object to the camera and it wasn’t switched on following discussions between Solihull council and police.

Both travellers and protesters set up camp without planning permission in Eaves Green Lane in May 2010.

After numerous court hearings the travellers have been given until March next year to leave the greenbelt site.

An enforcement notice demanding the protesters leave was issued earlier this year.