BOLLARDS, costing about £1,000, have been placed at access points to Malvern Town Council-owned open spaces to prevent travellers setting up camps.

The move comes after four caravans appeared on the former allotment site, which is earmarked for a community garden during the next three years, off Elgar Avenue.

Two of the caravans were occupied by a family evicted from a home in Mountbatten Road and two others soon followed.

The town council was in the process of obtaining court orders to force the occupants to move, when they left of their own accord.

Town clerk Richard Chapman said the council then decided to take the opportunity to secure its other sites by erecting bollards to prevent access.