Two Devon sports centres have been forced to close following the arrival of Travellers. Several caravans and vehicles have been spotted along Meadow Lane in Cullompton near Culm Valley Sports Centre. Work is under way to evict them from the premises.
Mid Devon Leisure has posted to social media to inform their members of the centre's temporary closure. They said: “We currently have visitors at Culm Valley. For safety reasons, CVSC will be closed until further notice."
Over the weekend, Lords Meadow Leisure Centre, in Crediton, also had to be closed following the arrival of Travellers, but they have since left and the centre has reopened. A clean-up operation is now underway to ensure the area is safe for the public.
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However, the same group of Travellers appear to have moved on to Culm Valley, with its local leisure centre being forced to close as a result. A spokesperson for Mid Devon District Council has said in a statement: “Many of our leisure customers will already be aware that both our Crediton and Cullompton leisure sites have been visited by members of the travelling community over the past few days.
“While our staff initially tried to keep Lord’s Meadow open, for the benefit of our customers, it quickly became apparent that for the safety of our staff and customers the centre had to temporarily close. A clean-up operation continues at Lords Meadow but the centre is open and we would like to thank our staff for ensuring the site reopened as quickly as possible.
“Unfortunately, the situation is now being repeated at Culm Valley and all the leisure facilities at Culm Valley will remain closed while the visitors remain on site. We would like to thank all of our customers for their patience over the past few days and apologise for the inconvenience this situation has caused.
“The Council is looking at what, if any, steps we can take to prevent such a closure again and considering ways to minimise disruption to our loyal customers, although this is difficult as we need to maintain access to our car parks for our customers. In the meantime the legal route to disperse the travellers on the site is underway.”
Mid Devon Council advises customers to keep an eye on their social media channels for more information. They have apologised for any inconvenience the situation may cause customers.
In a post to a local Facebook group, the Stokehouse Farm Dairy warned customers to stay away from the Culm Valley Sports Centre. It said: “Hi, we are really sorry for the reported mess in our milk shed at Culm Valley Sports Centre. We have been strongly advised to keep away from the area and to ask our milk shed customers to as well.
“We are hoping to access our milk shed at some point today to deep clean and restock but will just have to see how this situation plays out. Stokehouse Farm Dairy”.
Devon and Cornwall Police have been contacted for further information.
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