A major summit on travellers is to be held next month in a bid to stop Birmingham’s parks being taken over again this summer.

Police and crime commissioner David Jamieson said residents were becoming increasingly frustrated by the slow response to camps after scores of incidents over the past year.

Last summer saw a huge rise in both the number of camps in parks and open spaces and the number of caravans per camp.

Public spaces like Selly Oak Park were heavily targeted, leaving council staff with huge piles of fly-tipped rubbish to clear up.

Mr Jamieson has invited councils from across the region, as well as residents groups and traveller representatives, to the meeting on February 10 to ensure they share intelligence, expertise and coordinate action.

Different councils are taking different measures.

Walsall has taken on powers to issue 24-hour fast-track evictions from its parks, while Birmingham will bring in professional bailiffs to carry out evictions protect its overwhelmed staff from intimidation.

Travellers camp on playing fields off Sutton Oak Road, Sutton Coldfield
Travellers camp on playing fields off Sutton Oak Road, Sutton Coldfield

The city has also earmarked two car parks in Nechells as sites for official traveller camps.

Processing evictions and cleaning up afterwards has placed a huge burden on council and police as well as blighting parks and playing fields.

Mr Jamieson said: “Effectively dealing with unauthorised traveller encampments is a really important issue that requires us all to work together.

“I have organised this summit in response to calls from the public and to produce practical recommendations that will make a difference.

“I hope that best practice from across the region will be adopted and that proposals for extra powers from the government emerge.”

Mr Jamison said he was asking councils from across the Midlands to attend to ensure they worked together and avoided passing the camps onto each other.

The summit, which will be webcast live, will look at the issues the West Midlands is facing, what is working and what is not and if additional powers are needed for local agencies.