TRAVELLERS have been condemned for illegally dumping more than 100 tonnes of industrial rubble at a site in Moray.
Human waste and piles of rubbish have also been left strewn across an area of Forres Enterprise Park that was occupied until recently by six to eight caravans.
The devastation has led to a call to local people to be more particular about whom they employ to do work for them.
It has also emerged that travellers in Moray who have nowhere to pitch their caravans can now apply to the council for accommodation for the homeless.
Councillor George Alexander, who represents the Forres area on Moray Council, said yesterday that the people who had “caused this horrendous mess” on the enterprise park were not genuine travellers.
“They are businessmen from Ireland who travel up and down the country, doing work such as laying people’s driveways,” he said.
“When the work dries up in an area they move on, but, during the fortnight they were here, we estimate that they did £100,000 worth of work in the Forres area.
“That is work they were taking away from local traders. Anybody can do a job cheaply if they don’t abide by the law – and these people didn’t give a hoot for the law.
“That’s why local people need to be more particular about who they employ. They should ask traders to show their licence for dumping waste.”
Mr Alexander also stressed that the group involved had no connection to a group of travellers that had recently parked at Forres Enterprise Park.
About 80 trailer loads of soil and rubble have been dumped. Soiled nappies, fast-food packages, beer cans, broken bicycles, industrial pallets and tyres also litter the area.
In addition, dozens of black bin bags are also scattered across the field and a nearby wood.
Many of them are ripped open, with their contents spilling out.
Mr Alexander said the field had been in pristine condition before the traders arrived last month.
He added that it had even been mowed by volunteers ahead of the European Piping Championships in July, when it was used as a parking area.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which owns the field, is said to be preparing clear-up plans.
Councillor Lorna Creswell, who also represents the area, said: “There are strong feelings about the mess that’s been left on the site, especially when the local authority is trying to show a strong line on littering and recycling.
“We don’t have any official traveller sites in Moray. A few years ago, several potential sites were identified but they were either deemed unsuitable or there were objections from local residents.
“At the moment, the whole issue just seems to be going round in circles and it might put off business from coming to the area when they see nothing being done about it.”
It emerged last week that travellers could present themselves to the local authority as homeless if they struggled to find a place to camp legally. This comes against the backdrop of a 6% rise in applications by the homeless in Moray in the last year.
Barry Jarvis, a Labour councillor for Elgin north, said: “At the moment, there’s not enough houses, either in Moray or getting built in Moray, to meet the waiting list we already have, without the potential pressure of travellers presenting as homeless.”
A report to the council said the number of homelessness applications had increased to 551 in 2012-13 from 520 the year before.