A court order obtained by Swindon Borough Council means that a group of travellers that have been living in the abandoned Wroughton Park and Ride will have to leave.
The local authority secured the order at Swindon Magistrates Court on Monday, meaning they now have the legal power to remove the travellers from the Pipers Way location.
The council recently revealed that contrary to what some locals believed because they had seen people coming and going and locking the gate behind them, the travellers were not there with permission.
The group, consisting of three caravans and a car, gained entry to the site and secured it with their own chains and padlocks which prevented Swindon Borough Council from gaining access to their own land.
A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: "After attempts to reach an amicable solution proved unsuccessful, we secured a court order from Swindon Magistrates Court today to remove a group of Travellers from the site of the former Wroughton Park and Ride site on Pipers Way.
"Chains and padlocks had been fitted to the gate to prevent us from entering the site so, unfortunately, taking this action was needed to protect and secure it.
"The group have seven days to leave before our team will attend with bailiffs and remove them if necessary.
"Once the group have left the area, we will check and secure the site."
This is not the first time the site has been broken into by travellers, with the council having to take action in 2022.
In August of that year, a group of at least nine caravans parked there after gaining entry.
It was unclear how they gained access but it was believed that one of the gates was damaged, which was confirmed by Wiltshire Police.
The site stopped being used as a formal park and ride back in 2007, after low demand forced the council's hand.
It has since been used as a car park, and it was also used as a regional COVID-19 test centre during the pandemic.
It was expected that the Park and Ride would reopen with the building of the Wichelstowe housing development, but this did not happen.
The council now says that it is "looking at options for the future use of the site."
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