BAILIFFS were evicting travellers from Patcham today with the warning: "Shift, or we'll shift you."

Only a handful of travellers were left at the Brighton site this morning and many appeared to drag their feet, delaying their departure for as long as possible. Bailiffs last night warned them to move, but at 8am they had to bang on each mobile home to tell them: "Get up and get out". The travellers left behind what resembled a wreckers yard with about 40 broken-down caravans and vans and piles of litter. Police used a CCTV camera on a crane parked near the Horsdean site on the south side of the A27 to monitor the situation as bailiffs moved in. Officers were also on standby at the edge of the site. Many of the travellers left Horsdean over the weekend for temporary council sites at Stanmer Park and Whitehawk. About 20 caravans were this morning at the BMX site at Wilson Avenue, Whitehawk, and the gate was locked. More than a dozen officers from the under sheriff's deparment moved on to the Horsdean site in pairs to ask the travellers to leave. Roger Johnston, the under sheriff, said: "They were co-operative last night. We do not want any hassle. "My chaps will go round and offer to help them get off the site. If they do not go we will tow them off. If it comes to hassle the police will get involved." The travellers' move to Whitehawk has sparked fury among local residents. Community chiefs are already calling a public meeting to discuss how to get them moved on as soon as possible. Jim Beveridge, vice-chairman of Whitehawk Crime Prevention Forum, said: "The residents are up in arms because the council has told us we've just got to put up with the travellers, and we don't want them here."

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