So my quiet town had a visit from our traveller 'friends' this week and

[AndThatsWhatIThinkOfYou]

They wonder why people are so against them setting up camp where ever they please.

They arrived last Wednesday on a football field with a park and caused a whole load of trouble, for example, going to the petrol station handing over euros, being told they won't accept euros as payment, they simple got in their vans and drove of.

Made a visit to our local Sainsburys got caught shoplifting, were locked in until police were called.

Local children playing on park got beaten up with sticks by the traveller children.

And to top it all of 3 vans pulling up outside a local pub, very busy, dropping their trousers and all three disgusting men casually took a shit one by one on the pub doorstep. Got in there vans and drove of.

Then left the football field and park in an absolute mess. Rubbish everywhere.

Each incident police were called but nothing has been done.

So AIBU to wonder why travellers think this behavior is acceptable? and why can't anything be done to stop it?

Travellers are being blamed for flattening part of Offa's Dyke

My elderly, vulnerable, confused MIL has been the victim of doorstep sellers, several times. Conning her out of gold watches or money, or signing up for expensive/unnecessary 'home improvements', or asking to use the loo and actually nicking her handbag. None of the offenders have been travellers. So, should we hate all white people? (NB we know they aren't, because the police have known/caught most of them.)

I am baffled Coconutty

Baffled and disappointed.

I have never once said the word 'hate' on this thread I simply do not understand why everytime travellers have passed through the village there has been chaos.

However I have learnt that there is a permanent traveller base where some live all year, about 2 miles away and there's not been any bother I am aware of, so should more be done to find more permanent camps?

Why is it someone's job to provide them with land though. They can buy it or rent it like everyone else and apply for the relevant permissions.

OP you may not have used the word hate, but many of your posts - which have now been deleted - were certainly hatefilled and hateful.

Al0uise - shelter (usually in the form of housing) is provided by the council for members of the settled community, so why should appropriate living facilities not be provided by the council for the travelling community, in accordance with their way of life?

No I do not believe they were actually. I am just astounded these incidents happened in the first place and secondly nothing has been done about it.

Shelter in accordance with their way of life. No.
Just shelter.

Ah, so you want to force travellers to settle down, do you? You don't recognise their ethnicity and way of life as valid? Thankfully UK and European law thinks otherwise.

are they paying taxes and council tax would be my question?

There you go with blanket assertions again, OP!

Morning everyone,

We're sorry some of you are upset at the way we've handled this thread. As we've said before, we will delete racist posts, or posts that make blanket negative assertions or generalisations about all Travellers. However, we will allow people to share their experience, both good and bad.

As much as we welcome vigorous debate, AIBU is not a fight club, and we will remove threads that turn into bunfights.

You should delete the thread now then. It descended into a bunfight some time ago.

*fact

You'd rather see debate stifled so you don't have to acknowledge some unpleasant truths.

you cannot really blame posters for questioning the situation. Most people know that not all the travellers behave in an anti social way but it is not fair when an authority has to pay for an illegal site to be cleaned up after it has been encamped on over a long bank holiday.

who pays for this clean up service, do the people who have left the site or is it the sitting duck residents of the area who have to? The authorities are cash strapped. would you not feel resentful if this happened in your quiet village.

I get what you mean about stifling debate Alouise, but I don't think this thread is really going anywhere other than downhill. And I guess one person's unpleasant truth is another's bigoted perception (on either side of the debate). I doubt there will be many conversions to the "other side" in this argument.