Head slams 'ignorant, illegal and disruptive' caravans on school fields

'POTENTIAL TO TAKE STAFF AWAY FROM HELPING CHILDREN' DURING CRUCIAL EXAM TIME

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor [e-mail]

A HEADMASTER has condemned the occupation of school playing fields just as pupils start stressful exams. A group of caravan occupants pitched up yesterday evening (Monday, May 12) at Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan in Abergele, Conwy.

"The small but significant" convoy "illegally accessed" the school's Dinorben playing fields, said headteacher Matt Wildsmith in a late-night letter to parents. "They had criminally damaged the locked gates to gain access," he wrote.

Mr Wildsmith said it would be difficult to remove the group at short notice but he assured parents that "processes are in place to ensure they are dealt with as swiftly as possible". Local reports suggest the group had moved to Abergele from a site in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire.