TRAVELLERS who have pitched up in a Lincolnshire village have been told to move on or face court action.

The group of two families arrived on the Sidney Hall Memorial Playing Field in Waddington on Tuesday with a handful of caravans.

A representative from Waddington Parish Council – which owns the land in Station Road – arrived on site soon after and warned them to leave by Monday morning.

The travellers were told to move, or court action will be taken to evict them.

Andrea Smith, clerk at Waddington parish council, said: "We are aware they are there. There are four caravans.

"We have been to speak to them. We will allow them until the end of the weekend and if they have not gone by then, we will take the necessary steps.

"We would rather they were not there, but unfortunately they are. We can't do anything about it."

The land is the site of a controversial animal circus which came in March and caused much unrest in the area.

At the time it was owned by a private landlord and has since been handed over to the parish council. The council was quick to put in concrete bollards to keep people off the field, but they say youths have moved them in recent weeks.

The travellers told the Echo they have come over from Gainsborough to be closer to a sick relative in Lincoln County Hospital.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous said: "We are just trying to find somewhere to stop around here so we can visit. The person from the parish council came down and he was ok really, just asked how long we were planning to stay here. I think we'll be gone by the end of the week.

"We never leave rubbish, we always clean up after ourselves and leave places as we find them."