A GROUP of travellers has set up camp in Woolwell.

A small group of five caravans and campers, with a number of cars and vans, set up camp next to the entrance to the Tesco superstore in Woolwell on Sunday.

The group arrived almost exactly a year after a similar unauthorised encampment in the area.

Staff from Plymouth City Council delivered two industrial-sized bins for the travellers’ rubbish yesterday.

A council spokeswoman said: “We were made aware of an unauthorised encampment on Monday morning.

“Staff from the Traveller Education Service have visited the site to carry out welfare checks. We are awaiting their report and we will be following our normal procedures for dealing with unauthorised encampments, taking into account any welfare needs.”

The invasion of up to 30 caravans last year cost the city council at least £10,000 to clear up and left council chiefs facing criticism from local residents over piles of rubbish left on council-owned land.

Last year the travellers finally vacated land between Towerfield Drive and Bickleigh Down Road after legal threats by David Shepperd, Plymouth City Council’s head of legal services.

They left rubbish, including human excrement, scattered across the site. Many of the piles appeared to be made up of rubbish collected from “house clearances” which it is believed the travellers had been carrying out in the local area to earn money.

There were also soiled disposable nappies, fridges and sofas, cement, fences, trimmings from trees, toys, bicycles, rotting food, cans of paints, rough pieces of wood and electrical goods.

In recent years there have been about 20 unauthorised camps a year in Plymouth, each costing the council an average of £6,500 to deal with.

The council is obliged by law to carry out welfare checks before starting legal proceedings to evict travellers.

The process can take anything from a few days to around three weeks.

Efford residents protest over proposed Gypsy site at Efford Warren. April 8, 2009.

Video footage showing the new Gypsy and traveller site at Efford Warren in its current state before Gypsies move in.

Rubbish left at Bickleigh Down, Roborough, after travellers left the site.