Stop press - the travellers have now left Riverside Park. 

Over the Easter weekend, a group of travellers moved onto Riverside Park.  John Denham has been contacted by local residents and said "Largely as a result of my own efforts a few years ago, the law was changed to allow travellers to be moved on from illegal encampments within 48 hours without the normal legal processes.

"However, this power can only be used where a suitable temporary site is available within the local authority area and to which they can be directed. This restriction was introduced very largely at the insistence of the police who feared a nightmare of moving people from one illegal site to another.  This policy lies behind the controversial decision to develop a travellers' site at Mansbridge. It would make Southampton one of the first local authorities who could use the power.

"Unpopular though these decisions always are, the gain would certainly enable an encroachment like that in Riverside Park much easier to deal with quickly."