Hull £650k cycle track delayed by travellers on site

A new cycle track at Hull is being delayed by travellers on the site.

The £650k works were supposed to be finished in a month, but travellers have gained access to the site and parked caravans there.

They got into the Ennerdale Leisure centre in North Hull by claiming a horse had got loose, before taking advantage of the open gates to drive several vehicles onto the site.

Malcolm Green, from Dunswell, told the Hull Daily Mail it is "unfair" the travellers have stopped work taking place. "They've clearly stopped the work that was going on," he said. "The fact they have stopped them working is the main issue as far as I'm concerned.

"Hopefully they will leave here too before it gets warmer and kids want to start using it.

"If they are travellers all the time then I think they at least need to find somewhere to be without disrupting everyone else.

"The track looks like it will be a great thing for the city. It's unfair if they go onto the site and stop all of this from happening."

Colin Brayford added: ”I think the council will need to make sure that it is cleaned," he said. "It would be awful to see fly-tipping and rubbish there. I always drive past here and it's a massive shame to see it looking like a bit of a tip.

"They just seem to move from one place to another leaving each of them a mess. It's a massive shame that they've come here."

Terry Geraghty, Councillor with portfolio for leisure, said: "Any intrusion when you have almost completed a project like is a bit of nuisance. We're looking at legal action to take them off the land.

"Last year they went from one part of the city to another, leaving a lot of mess behind them. It's annoying when they are on parks and places like that and stop people from playing sport.

"Work has stopped now, but that is up to the contractors. We hope to get them out as soon as possible so we can carry on the development without them.

"They clearly have no care for the community whatsoever. This is going to be used by the young, the old, the disabled, and be huge benefit to the area, and they've just come here and parked on it.”

As we reported late last year, Hull City Council has received £25,000 from British Cycling to help fund the project, which has been forecast to attract 15,000 people to the track each year.