Fife Council leader David Ross has apologised to grieving families after a group of Gypsy Travellers established an illegal camp at Kirkcaldy Crematorium.
Mr Ross said the group, which moved into the crematorium’s overspill car park on Tuesday night, has caused a number of problems within the region over the summer months and added that legal proceedings to remove them were now under way.
“This behaviour is totally unacceptable to the council and to most Gypsy Travellers,” he said.
“I have been assured from the council’s advocate that we are seeking an eviction order to remove the group from the crematorium car park.
“The council unreservedly apologises to the bereaved families who have been affected by the action of the Gypsy Travellers concerned.”
The summer tends to see a dramatic rise in the number of illegal camps established by Gypsy Travellers in Fife.
This group were only recently moved from Randolph Playing Fields in Kirkcaldy and are understood to have been involved in other flashpoint incidents in Glenrothes earlier in the summer.
The council said the group has caused significant disruption to businesses, community groups and residents in Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy since April, with their current base causing considerable problems for families attending funerals at the crematorium.
Mr Ross said he is now seeking an urgent meeting with the Scottish Government to develop ways in which problem groups of Travellers can be removed from illegal camps.
“This is exactly why we have been calling for the Scottish Government to enable councils to take effective action to stop this sort of anti-social behaviour from taking place at significant financial and emotional cost to the people of Fife,” he said.
“I will also be seeking urgent meetings with legal services and the Scottish Government to address this problem.”
In May, a leading Fife Council official said major changes in legislation were required to tackle the problem of illegal Gypsy Traveller camps.
Derek Muir, head of housing and neighbourhood services in the region, said legal changes are necessary to “empower” Fife Council to evict Gypsy Travellers from private ground.
His calls came following a major incident at the Eastfield Industrial Estate in Glenrothes, when as many as 30 vehicles established an illegal Traveller camp in April.
The Courier visited the Travellers’ camp on Wednesday evening, although only two caravans remained.
There was nobody available for comment at the site.
Picture by David Wardle