I’m a traveller – people hate us but we’re just living freely while they sit around watching TV
A TRAVELLER has accused Brits who criticise his "free" way of life of doing nothing but lazing around watching TV.
The man, who only goes by the name 'Hunty', is among a group of new age travellers that spark fury among residents each summer when their caravans roll into town and park up on public land.
Locals in Glastonbury, Somerset, complain about the alleged mess the visitors have left behind over a period of 20 years.
And they accuse the local authorities of not challenging rule flouting behaviour such as illegal parking and barbeques they say the travellers partake in.
Glastonbury resident Les Webb, 75, says the situation in the Beckery area of the town is out of control and claims "rules are not being applied equally" to travellers by cops and the council.
The retired carpenter hammered: "If my car was left on the road untaxed and without insurance I would soon know about it.
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“These lot are flouting the law and they don’t have to suffer the consequences.
“I pay my council tax part of which goes to help keep our town looking tidy and they come along and park at the side of the road and we’re left with the bill of cleaning up after them."
Les. a grandad of four, says lawmakers are "too afraid" to move the travellers on and has even written to Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Shelford to complain.
In his letter, he said: “We have several hundred travellers which the police ignore, why?"
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He went on to raise concerns over what he deemed a "motoring risk" of the caravans being parked up and "a risk of explosions with gas bottles propped up outside their vans".
When The Sun visited Glastonbury - population around 9,000 - tables and chairs lined the backstreets and travellers were cooking over barbecues in the Beckery area of the town.
Fans trailing electric cables to some of the campervans were also seen in the area which is known as the creative hub of the town.
The scenes have led to other residents like Les calling on the police and local authorities to act on the travellers.
'UNHYGIENIC'
And they argue the problem has got worse as the number of travellers descending on the town has grown over the last 20 years.
Another resident, Michael Routledge, 54, from Glastonbury added: “These roads don’t have the facilities that a normal travellers site would have like toilets and showers.
"It is totally unhygienic not only for them but for those who are living nearby.”
While mother of two Joan Campbell, 34, also from Glastonbury lambasted the group for allegedly using a hedgerow round the back of her house as a toilet.
She said: “I used to live down off Beckery Road and it’s always been the same.
“There was an old travellers site at the back of the houses but the travellers didn’t want to fit in with their rules and so just parked on the street.
“You have people going to the toilet in the hedgerow and when the weather gets hot it smells awful. It’s time something was done to move them on.”
But middle-aged Hunty reckons locals are the one's that need a reality check, telling The Sun: "Other people like sitting in front of the telly all day, but we are just following our lifestyle."
He added: "We are not hurting anyone and we always clean up after we leave.
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"Whey can’t people leave us alone?”
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Somerset County Council said: " It’s important to recognise that people live in encampments for a wider range of reasons, and not always by choice – it may be that someone is vulnerable and our approach has included a wide range of measures from support and welfare, helping people to access permanent housing and working to establish permanent sites, to enforcement where necessary to clear roads in residential areas, and permanent structural schemes to prevent unauthorised encampments.
“The approach is working with a clear drop in the number of lived-in vehicles compared to the height of the pandemic, and we will continue to work closely with all parties to establish permanent sites and ensure the number of unauthorised encampments continues to be reduced.”
