Residents of a quiet seaside estate got a surprise after travellers pitched up caravans in the middle of their well-kempt lawn.
Five caravans and a people carrier could be seen on the grass at Millfield Overstrand, a private estate off Overstrand Avenue in Rustington, West Sussex, on Monday.
Tables and chairs were also set up by the visitors, who looked to be enjoying the sun.
A Sussex Police spokesman said the force was ‘monitoring the situation in support of the lead agency’.
The police were contacted for further comment.
Locals vented their frustrations on a Facebook page, with one resident posting: ‘Just in front of our flats and more just came in.
‘Their kids are jumping and peeing into flower crops, mess is already everywhere.
‘We can probably expect a few noisy nights.
‘I feel like I’m in the middle of summer festival.’
Another added: ‘My dad lives in this block, he is 79 the stress that this is causing is huge.
‘He is so worried he is sleeping in his chair tonight.
‘I don’t expect for one minute the travellers consider that.’
Later, another poster revealed that at least one van had been towed away and that the visitors were ‘all now gone’.
West Sussex County Council said that ‘as the group is stationed on private land, it is the responsibility of the landowner’.
Happily, estate manager Hobdens said the situation was resolved swiftly.
‘We were first alerted to the situation on the afternoon of Sunday, August 11th, by our client. In response, we promptly contacted the relevant authorities, and worked closely with them to ensure the matter was resolved swiftly and satisfactorily. The encampment remained in place for a total of 28 hours before they were moved on’, a spokesman said.
The quiet coastal village, which lies between Brighton and Chichester, was previously in the headlines after a resident baker, Paul Pegrum, created a record-breaking 43kg hot cross bun in 2002.