NEGOTIATIONS are ongoing to remove travellers from the car park of a Hampshire supermarket.

The group of travellers have set up a camp outside Sainsbury’s at Lordshill District Centre in Southampton.

Now a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said the store is working closely with the authorities to resolve the issue.

This comes after other groups of travellers set up unauthorised camps in Eastleigh and Bitterne in the past few weeks.

As previously reported, travellers were removed from grassland near Fleming Park and on Doncaster Farm in Eastleigh in May, while Bitterne Park Primary School had to cancel its sports day after caravans parked at Riverside Park, along the western edge of a large sports field between the school and the River Itchen.

It is not known if the group of travellers who are currently occupying the Sainsbury’s car park are the same group that left Riverside Park last week.

Keith Morrell, Putting People First councillor for Coxford ward, said: “I think the city council should look again at identifying a site for a permanent camp for travellers on this side of Southampton because otherwise we are going to be continuously dealing with this problem of random camping in places that are so inconvenient for local residents.

“Until we are able to provide that kind of accommodation there isn’t an answer apart from continuously moving them on to somebody else’s neighbourhood.”

However, Andrew Pope, Southampton Independents councillor for Redbridge ward, said: “I don’t agree on having a travellers encampment in Southampton and neither do residents when they spoke to me.

“They were very angry when camps were set up near where they live.”

A Southampton City Council spokesman has previously told the Daily Echo that Sainsbury’s car park is privately-owned and the eviction of travellers would need to be undertaken by the land owners and added that the authority had no plans to provide a travellers encampment.

A Hampshire Police spokesman said: “ We are aware of a travellers encampment at Lordshill District Centre and have officers visiting the site to assess the situation.”