EARTH barriers are being built at the entrance to Shaw Forest Country Park in a bid to prevent travellers from setting up illegal camps there.

The bunds, which are going either side of the gateway, are thought to be the idea of Swindon Borough Council staff, who decided it would be a good way of recycling earth displaced by the Bruce Street Bridges project.

Travellers have used the country park several times.

In 2016 they broke a gate to get onto the site and when they left council workers had to clear piles of garbage including carpets, broken glass and human waste. Benches and posts were also cut down with a chainsaw.

Shaw ward borough councillor Mary Martin said a sturdy gate would be needed but the bunds, which are expected to be finished in the next few weeks, would prevent drivers going to the side.

She congratulated the officers for coming up with the scheme and said one of the hopes was that it would reduce the amount of rubbish the council had to deal with.

“I think the one complaint that comes from residents and councillors is invariably related to the debris and mess that is left afterwards.

“Particularly in Shaw Forest it was extremely noticeable that there was a very large amount of green waste.”

Householders in the town had taken advantage of cheap rates offered by the travellers with little though as to what would happen to the waste when it was taken away.

But, as detailed in the Advertiser earlier this week, the Government is considering new laws that could see householders landed with £400 fines if they don’t check firms are licenced to deal with waste.

“It is exactly that sort of problem that the new legislation is designed for – to make people more mindful of what happens to the rubbish that’s taken away from their house,” she said.

The former landfill site has been turned into a community woodland with 46,000 trees. Wildlife has moved back in and it has become popular with walkers.