AFTER a week-long delay, travellers are due to move off their illegal camp on playing fields in Halesowen by tomorrow.

Residents of the usually peaceful St Paul’s Drive have endured more than two weeks of noise and nuisance – including late-night quad bike racing on the green outside their homes.

Halesowen North councillor Karen Shakespeare was dismayed when last week’s legal bid to gain a re-possession order was thwarted because the barrister was not available.

The council was finally given the go-head to order the travellers off Birdys playing fields this afternoon and they were given 24 hours to leave.

The camp was directly behind the homes of the mainly elderly and vulnerable residents of St Paul’s Drive and Cllr Shakespeare had been deluged with complaints.

She hit out at the council for lack of communication and delays in forcing the travellers, with around 40 caravans, plus vehicles and horses, to move.

The Tory councillor said: “I have been trying to keep the residents up to date but they have been forgotten by the council through all this.”

Dudley Council agreed to her plea for more security and a guard has patrolled St Paul’s Drive overnight since last Friday.

Cllr Shakespeare said the Black Country had faced an “unprecedented” number of travellers moving in recently.

It is thought those on the playing fields are the last illegally camped travellers in Dudley.

Cllr Shakespeare is calling for “cross border co-operation and intelligence” in future to prepare local authorities for the risk of travellers moving onto council-owned parks and open spaces.

Many of the travellers are thought to have invaded the playing fields after being forced to leave the nearby Hurst Green Park, plus others from Birmingham.

Cllr Shakespeare estimated the clean-up bill for the park would be up to £10,000 and said specialists cleaners would also be brought in to clear the playing fields.