TRAVELLERS moved into a car park and left litter in an 'outrageous' incident, a county councillor has said.

The new arrivals set up in Hanley Road car park, in Upton, on Tuesday, April 18, but left after receiving a 24 hour notice.

Malvern Hills District Council said the travellers left on Wednesday morning, after the council threatened to begin court proceedings.

Three caravans were in the car park, which is owned by the district council, on Tuesday night.

County councillor Roger Sutton told Upton Town Council: "The rubbish is absolutely outrageous, seriously I'm concerned about that's happened.

"Richard Hannah [chairman of Upton Folk Festival] contacted me to ask what I could do about the arrival of visitors to Hanley Road car park.

"I asked the district councillor that if Mr Baldwin is concerned about safety in Hanley Road car park he could look at the complete mess caused by the travellers."

The councillor later said that he saw plastic and paper rubbish scattered around a caravan.

Cllr Sutton added that the chairman of the folk festival told him he was concerned about the impact the travellers could have on his weekend event, which starts on Friday, April 28.

Mr Hannah said he had worries about the travellers 'interacting badly' with the festivalgoers.

"The concern was that we were losing car parking and that there might be trouble," he said.

"I was very pleased to hear that they had moved out. I went down yesterday and it was cleaner than it has been for years.

"The car park is very important for the festival. Thank you to the district council and the police for prompt action."

Mr Hannah said parking is an issue in Upton, especially when 3,000 people visit for the festival.

Amanda Smith, Malvern Hills District Council community services manager, said: "We received a report about an illegal traveller encampment.

"That morning we visited the site to issue a notice informing them they had 24 hours to leave the site or we would begin court proceedings to have them removed.

"The group had moved on by Wednesday morning. We won’t hesitate to use our enforcement powers to take swift and decisive action to deal with illegal encampments on council property.”

Upton Folk Festival is holding a grand procession in the town on Sunday, which starts at 12 noon.