Travellers who set up camp in Mill Hill over the weekend were served with eviction notices by police this morning.

An encampment of around two dozen caravans appeared on a plot of wasteland owned by developer Taylor Wimpey off Bunns Lane, near the junction with Flower Lane, on Friday night.

Officers visited the site on Saturday morning and were told by the families they would be moving towards the south coast on Monday.

However, the mobile homes and several Transit vans remained at the site and officers this morning served a notice requiring those on the land to vacate.

Police had planned to serve the notice last night but a spokesman said they rearranged to hand the notices over during daylight hours due to the number of children on the site.

The occupation of private land becomes a criminal matter when there are more than six vehicles.

A spokesman for Taylor Wimpey said: “Working with the police, we acted immediately on this situation at Bunns Lane and section 61 notices have been served. We will continue to monitor the situation.”