TRAVELLERS settling on a football pitch in Farnworth have said they are “not doing anything wrong” as a second group arrives in the area.

Bolton Council served a 24-hour eviction notice on the first families to park on the Fern Street site after they arrived on Thursday at around 2pm.

Now officers from the authority have attended the area again to give a second notice to the new travellers who arrived late on Thursday and early on Friday morning.

The football pitch was previously settled by more than ten caravans in April last year, after a group removed boulders meant to stop vehicles accessing the area.

However, one of the men who arrived last night said the group did not know there had been issues before.

He explained: “We didn’t know there were any problems. It doesn’t bother me what people say, they can talk about what they want.

“We’re not doing anything wrong we’re just here.”

Following the events of last year, the council had put a gate and padlock on the entrance to the site but that has since been found cut away.

Residents of the nearby Lower Rawson Street said the travellers had been causing problems since they arrived.

One man said: “It’s a problem because they have taken over that field. My kids used to play on there and now they can’t.

“They went on the playground yesterday and some of the other kids came over and were swearing at them and making gestures.”

Last year, the council had tried to take action but was unable to serve an eviction order as one of the families had given birth to premature twins and their welfare had taken priority.

Farnworth councillor Jean Gillies confirmed that the council had tried to act quickly in this case, delivering an order on the afternoon that the travellers arrived.

She said: "We have contacted the liaison officer and they have been served notice. We are trying to deal with it as quickly as we can.

"It's very frustrating because we had a real issue with this last year."

She added: "People should report any antisocial behaviour they see through the police 101 number."

Peter Millet, a resident of nearby Matlock Close, said he was surprised that the area was occupied again after Bolton Council's efforts in 2017.

He added: "It was a surprise to see them because they spent quite a bit of time putting a barrier up and we thought that was an end to it.

"Obviously, that wasn't the case.”