Travellers have parked up on the customer car parks of two Ellesmere Port businesses.
The group turned up on the town’s Asda car park on Monday but later moved onto sites owned by Nation Tyres and Autocare and RPV Trading in Coronation Road.
Cheshire Police and Cheshire West and Chester Council’s gypsy-traveller coordinator hope to negotiate a solution with the travellers who are understood to have two caravans on the tyre site and four caravans, three vans and two pick-up trucks on the RPV Trading site which are taking up customer car parking spaces.
A spokesperson for Nation Tyres said: “There’s no way of customers of getting onto the site. Customers arrive and they can’t get in.
"The worry is the customers probably just drive off. It’s not the best advertisement, I have to say.”
The spokesperson said there was noise from a compressor being used by the travellers but no other issues. One of the travellers had told him they would be leaving at 10am this morning but he wasn’t hopeful the deadline would be met.
He said police had been down but the travellers had refused to open the caravan door.
“What amazes me is the police can’t do anything,” added the spokesperson, who may consider approaching a solicitor. He joked: “We’ve told them we will treat you with respect if you treat us with respect, now clear off our site! Apparently, they told the police last night they were waiting to have a tyre put on their caravan.”
Inspector Mike Ankers, of Ellesmere Port and Neston Police, said: “I think the most important thing is we come to some sort of compromise. We are doing all we can to meet the welfare needs of the travellers while also acting in the interests of local businesses and residents. We are working with the traveller liaison officer from Cheshire West.
“Sometimes we do have powers available to move them on but I’m not certain that’s the case at the moment.”
The inspector said there were official sites available where the travellers could be accommodated but said ‘some don’t want to be on sites’ if they were simply passing through the area.
Cheshire West and Chester Council spokeswoman Shirley Wingfield said the Cheshire partnership gypsy-traveller coordinator would be visiting the site later on Tuesday to carry out welfare checks.
As of 12.30pm on Wednesday (November 25), Nation Tyres office manager Mark Owens confirmed the Travellers were still on the site, but understands they will be moving on soon.
