Travellers set up large camp in popular Parson Cross Park in Sheffield

Travellers in more than two dozen vehicles have set up camp in a popular Sheffield park.

Some 18 caravans - and cars, pickups, minibuses and a low loader - have formed two rows on a football pitch in Parson Cross Park.

A woman who emerged from a caravan on Wednesday morning said they had stopped there because they had “nowhere else to go.” They were from Ireland, she said, and they planned to stay “a couple of days.”

Locals said they arrived at 8.30pm on Monday and broke a lock on the entrance gates to get in. A double gate in a fence around the pitch was unlocked, one said. The pitch is some distance from houses on Buchanan Road and has far reaching views across north Sheffield and Greno Woods.

One dog walker said the police and city council officials had visited on Tuesday. 

A man said: “All they’re doing is blocking the football pitch.”

It is the second travellers’ camp in Sheffield this month. A site established in Crookes Cemetery Park lasted for two days.

The Star has contacted South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield City Council for statements.