Travellers set up an unauthorised encampment on Central Park less than an hour after a Plymouth City Council van knocked out an access gate - which would have blocked the Travellers from getting into the park.

The embarrassing incident took place on Sunday after what was thought to be a small refuse van driven by council workers hit the post which secured the gate near to the Life Centre building. With the two-foot tall post knocked flat, it meant the gate could no longer be secured.

By a remarkable coincidence, just 40 minutes later, a small convoy of Travellers evidently spotted the unsecured entrance and drove their own vehicles onto one of the Central Park fields.

A Plymouth City Council spokesman said: "We’re aware of an unauthorised encampment in Central Park. Access was gained

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