A PARTY of travellers have left Knutsford Football Club officials reeling after breaking in on Sunday night and causing more than £1,000 of damage.

A convoy of six caravans, carrying approximately 15 adults and a dozen children turned up at 6.30pm on Sunday evening, setting up camp at the Manchester Road ground and refusing to leave.

Jimmy Evans, chairman of Knutsford FC, sprung into action after receiving a call from neighbours who had spotted the travellers breaking in.

After exchanging words with the group, the club called in a private bailiff to service an emergency eviction notice, ensuring that the travellers were off the land before Tuesday’s evening match against Crewe FC.

The club’s officials then had a race against the clock to straighten up the ground, including cleaning up human faeces from the grass before spectators arrived for the Crewe game.

Jimmy said: “I was worried to death about the damage they could do.

"15 years ago we had the same situation and the damage was devastating.

“We had a call from our neighbour at around 6.30pm. We have a good neighbourhood watch system. I went up there immediately and spoke with one of the people who came over to speak to me.

“Before I could say anything his answer was ‘we know the law, we deal with the police every day, there’s nothing you can do, and we are staying.’

“So I phoned the police and immediately phoned our landlord as it’s private land, the landlord needed to get a private bailiff.

“They threatened the bailiff. One man said ‘come any closer and I will break your glasses’. And the leader of the group tried to shake on an agreement; he said ‘if you do not let us stay, we’ll be back’.”

“There were other comments too like ‘we will smash your face in’. It was intimidating and threatening, and just not respectful at all.

“We asked them not to drive on the pitch, because it is the kids pitch that we have spent years trying to sort out for them.

“They just drove straight onto it, without the slightest bit of notice, doing handbrake turns and wheelies. The biggest damage done is to the kids pitch.

“We are having to pay out more than £1,000 now for the kids pitch and the bailiff costs.

The club have since replaced the lock on the gate and are looking to improve security measures to reduce the likelihood of another incident.

But Jimmy is concerned about what the law can do to protect private property owners against trespassing from travellers.

“We are delighted they have gone with minimal damage and we are reviewing our security measures," he said.

"It is impossible to be totally secure.

“It seems that the authorities are powerless to do anything.

"It’s astonishing that the law as it is doesn’t protect people or their property. When they told us how it works we thought this cannot be right, it’s just bizarre.

“The travellers just laughed in our face because they knew there was nothing we could do.”