Travellers who pitched up in a car park were moved on in just 30 minutes as the council enforced its new powers.
Three caravans and three vehicles turned up in the car park next to Hertsmere Borough Council’s offices in Borehamwood just before 5pm on Wednesday.
Council officers and the police attended and by 5.30pm, the travellers had left.
At the beginning of the month, the council was granted an injunction by the High Court of Justice, which banned encampment on all of the council’s 95 sites across the borough.
Travellers in Ripon Park earlier this year
It meant the council did not have to go through the drawn-out process that it had to all summer, when they were forced to wait to be granted a removal order from St Albans Magistrates which gave the authority permission to move the travellers on.
The injunction initially lasts for three months, in which this period, any objections can be raised. The council plans to apply to extend the injunction for a further five years.
Travellers in Ripon Park earlier this year
Hertsmere Borough Council was pressured to act by neighbours and the Labour party in Borehamwood after a summer of “unprecedented” incursions on parks across the town, as well as in Bushey, Potters Bar, Elstree, and Radlett.
Leader of the council Cllr Morris Bright, alongside Cllr Seamus Quilty, responsible for the environment, pledged to take action and the council duly announced that it had been given these new powers.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here