Ministers consider making trespass a criminal offence to keep travellers of private land

Ministers are considering making trespass a criminal offence to stop travellers moving onto private land. James Brokenshire, the Communities secretary, has discussed the matter with his Irish counterpart, as trespass is already a crime in Ireland. He wants to give police more powers to evict trespassers following a series of incidents in which travellers have taken up residence on land and the police have not acted swiftly to remove them. Earlier this year there was outrage when travellers entered and wrecked the Thwaites brewery in Lancashire, and were allowed to drive away by police after causing £100,000-worth of damage.