THE owner of a sports field that was plagued by travellers last month has put the land up for sale saying his goodwill has “backfired”.

The Old Porcelain Ground in Droitwich Road, near Claines, Worcester, was occupied by a large group of travellers for over two weeks last month.

The pitches are used by two football teams, but they were forced to play elsewhere until the area was cleared.

Landowner Bal Singh, who lets the teams use the land for free, has since dug a trench around the field and installed gates, but said he is fed up with the adverse publicity and wants to sell up.

The five-acre site is on the market with Michael Tuck estate agents for £250,000.

Mr Singh said he was in a no-win situation when the land was invaded by travellers. He said: “We went down the road of trying to negotiate with the gipsies. But in the end the council was threatening to take us to court or charge us for cleaning up the mess.

“We were under a lot of pressure and had no support from the local authority or police. So we have just decided to put it up for sale.

“It’s up to the residents now to see if they want to take control of the situation. If they feel like they want to club together and buy the land from us they are very welcome. We have tried to do the right thing.

“We have been spirited enough to help out the local community by letting the football teams use the land but it has all backfired. “People are now saying we haven’t been community spirited at all.”

Mr Singh said he hoped the land will be bought by a sports or leisure company as it is designated for recreational use.

“Maybe one of the big gyms will buy it and put tennis courts there or five-aside football pitches. It could turn out to be a major facility for Worcester,” he said.

“Hopefully it will turn out well – we didn’t want to sell it to the gipsies.

“I’ll keep it on the market for three months and if there is genuine interest we will sell it. If not we’ll just keep it for another 10 years.”

Steve Sparkes, manager of Droitwich Spa Eagles FC, which used the land along with Worcester Raiders, said: “We will just carry on as we are for now.

“If it gets sold then we will have to accept it and move on.”