Travellers accused of turning a lay-by into an eyesore have been given their marching orders.

The travellers, parked in lay-bys between Berinsfield and Nuneham Courtenay, were given 24 hours to leave on Tuesday after being accused of dumping large amounts of rubbish beside the busy A4074.

Oxfordshire County Council gipsy liaison officer Anne Burn said: "They have been given 24-hours notice and asked to leave. The reason we had to move them on was the unsustainable amount of rubbish."

She said travellers were common at the site but the council had been forced to act because of complaints about dumping. She said: "We tolerate travellers in lay-bys because they have got to go somewhere and if they are in transit, a lay-by is a reasonable place for them to be. But if people complain it can be difficult.

"In order to keep control of the situation we ask them to move on. If they don't leave we would look at evicting them, but I wouldn't expect that."

She said the travellers, who describe themselves as Romany gipsies, arrived at the site two weeks ago after being evicted from farmland near Oxford.

WPc Carron Chesterman, of Wallingford police, said they had been bombarded with complaints from the public. She said: "The travellers have been making a nuisance of themselves." They have been in and out of local shops in Berinsfield, using bad language, with their children running riot. Everyone in Berinsfield knows they are there and are wary of them "People panic about their cars, and worry about having their houses and sheds burgled because gypsies have such a bad name. When people see them in a lay-by they become worried."

Daniel Painting, manager of the Co-op store in Fane Drive, Berinsfield, said he was pleased the council had served notice on the travellers.

He said: "The whole of Berinsfield will be glad to see the back of them. People in the shop say they are pleased they are going."

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