A SCHOOL will have to pay to clean up the mess left behind by travellers despite the fact its playing field is owned by Bolton Council.

Residents says the group left broken glass, dirty nappie, needles and chopped-up trees on land behind St Stephen’s CE Primary School, in Kearsley, when it moved on after a six-day stay.

And they are furious that the council did not immediately clean-up the Bent Spur Road site on Monday morning following the travellers departure the previous evening.

Town hall chiefs says St Stephen’s is responsible for the the clean-up as, unlike some schools, it does not pay into a maintenance agreement with the council. But resident Tracy Black, of Bentspur Road, said it was unfair on the school.

She said: “It’s disgusting, it’s a council matter.

“They have know from day one they were here and I don’t understand how they can pass the buck to the school.”

Other residents branded the decision “disgusting” and “ridiculous”. And ward councillor Julie Pattison said she was “not happy “ that the school would have to foot the bill for the clean-up.

She said: “They have got no funding whatsoever at a time we are all suffering from austerity taking money from a local primary school — money they haven’t got — isn’t good.”

Cllr Pattison added: “They told us all week they would clean it up, but now say it’s not their responsibility — how does that work?

“We were also promised at the beginning that, as soon as the travellers went that morning, they would be here and clean up. But its’ s the day after and we are still waiting for an answer as to when it will be done.”

Tony Lason, headteacher at St Stephen’s, said he head hoped the council would take the view the encampment was something “out of the ordinary” which fell outside the school’s maintenance obligations.

But the authority had insisted the clean up was the school’s responsibility. He said: “It will fall on the school budget. It’s money that would have been spent on something else that will have to go on an unexpected expense. There are resources we would have bought, but that money won’t be there.”

Residents who have branded the current state of the field “disgusting” have offered to carry out the clean-up themselves voluntarily. Mr Lason said he appreciated the community spirit but felt it wiser to have the work done “professionally”.

A council spokesman said: “We took action to move on the travellers as swiftly as possible and we are now advising the school on the necessary clearing up of the site.”