When the travellers came.

Recently my workplace has been all over the local news as the main staff car park had been taken over by travellers.

Saturday morning, 11 caravans and motorhomes took up residency after cutting a chain locking gates closed.

They parked around the perimeter of the car park to allow space for their washing lines, dog kennels, and expensive cars.

One staff member, who had no choice but to park in the same car park as the rest of the site was full, was told to move her car out of 'their garden', when she pointed out that it was a car park she was told that if she didn't move her car it would not be there when she got back.

The travellers were helping themselves to free water and electricity thanks to an outside tap and power outlet that I didn't even know was there, but they found it!

One day they spent a few hours amusing themselves by having races around the car park, as the surface is gravel this was flinging stones all over the place and leaving huge grooves in the surface.

Police had to be called one night as they were intimidating an elderly couple trying to leave via the main entrance.

Along with the clothes lines that they had installed, they used handy bushes to dry clothes on.

After being served notice, they finally vacated the car park at 8.15 Friday morning, and have moved less than a mile down the road to a cinema car park.

SO now the clean up begins.  Along with all the rubbish left behind, there are dozens of empty gas canisters.

Plus, they very kindly smashed glass over the car park, just leaving enough area clear so that they could drive out.

I don't know when we will be able to get back into the car park.

Why I am sacrificing my front garden for a parking place.

Ok, so I am going to have my garden for the next couple of years at least as I am going to have to save to have it paved over and the kerb dropped.

But this is one of the reasons why I am doing it.

It wouldn't be so bad it being parked there if the owner wasn't living in it.

It wouldn't be so bad him living in it if he wasn't here weeks at a time.

It wouldn't be so bad him being here if he didn't have to run the engine for half an hour at a time in the early hours of the morning, you cannot sleep with the window open due to the noise.

I would have thought it illegal to live in a motorised caravan on a residential street, but the Council are unable to tell me whether it is.  The Police drive past regularly without a care.

Another reason is this.

The next door neighbour, who the motorhome owner is visiting, likes to park half on his front and half on mine whenever the motorhome is not here.  I actually managed to get on my own front one evening after work as the neighbour had gone out.  On his return he screamed backwards and stopped inches away from my car.  This picture is taken from my front step so I am well onto my own front.

I know we have no right to park on our own fronts, but a bit of give and take would be nice.  And being deliberately blocked from parking is not nice.

I have an approximate cost of having the Council drop the kerb, but I have no idea how much it is going to cost to have the garden paved but I want to save a few thousand before I start getting quotes.

Has anyone had their front garden paved or blockpaved recently?  How much did it cost?