Travellers are setting up camp in golf clubs and refusing to leave unless staff pay up around £1,000, warn police.
Caravans moved onto the car park at Chester Golf Club yesterday (Wednesday, September 10) afternoon.
Police are now warning all golf clubs to be on their guard following a spate of incidents involving Travellers – some of which saw them demand thousands of pounds to leave.
Concerned staff at the popular club, off Curzon Park Road, called the police after the intruders refused to leave.
Club officials would not confirm whether the Travellers demanded money to vacate the site, but confirmed they finally left at around 9pm.
Speaking to The Chronicle, Club Secretary Richard West said: “We had an incident yesterday we need to deal with.
“They went of their own free will last night.”
Police have issued a warning to all local golf clubs following a number of similar incidents in Cheshire.
Some have seen Travellers demand large amounts of money to move on, but Cheshire police said they were not aware of that happening in this case.
PC Mark Evans, of Chester Outer Neighbourhood Policing Unit, said: “There have been a number of incidents in different areas, not just Cheshire.
“They just turn up on car parks. We have warned all local golf clubs to increase security and lock their gates.
“There have been previous incidents where they turned up and demanded money to go.”
PC Evans confirmed that the club had not reported any damage following the incident.
In a separate incident, police were called after a car was reportedly broken into in Hough Green at 1.20am today.
A man in his 20s is currently helping police with their enquiries.
