Van dwellers Council clears site after bottle thrown at workers

A GROUP of van dwellers have been cleared from a site near Ikea following allegations of threatening and antisocial behaviour.

- Angus MCINTYE

Bristol City Council was prompted to act after inhabitants of the site on New Stadium Road, Eastville, allegedly threw a bottle at contractors and threatened them when they approached.

There had been an encampment at the location for over a decade, but council officers moved in to clear the site as well as abandoned vehicles from the road.

Councillor Barry Parsons, chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, said action was taken after the most recent occupants of the site had displayed “evidence of criminality”.

He added: “The most recent group to occupy the site has been causing a number of antisocial behaviour issues, with evidence of criminality. We have been working in close liaison with the neighbourhood policing teams and a wider multi-agency partnership to address this.

“We have taken legal action to remove the encampment, and most of the vehicles have now left the site.