Travellers smash through locks to set up illegal encampment on popular local park as residents fume

Angry residents in a Birmingham suburb have been left outraged after travellers forced their way into a popular park, establishing an unauthorised encampment.

The group reportedly employed bolt cutters and angle grinders to destroy a lock on the gate at Highfield Lane Park in Quinton, with dozens of caravans, trucks and other vehicles subsequently streaming onto the site

The incursion took place less than two years since the same location was previously targeted.

Footage captured the convoy pouring into the green space, which sits opposite Four Dwellings School and ordinarily serves as a busy gathering spot for families during the summer holidays, with additional vehicles arriving under cover of darkness into Tuesday evening.

Horses were spotted roaming freely and stabled within a children's play area, while the encampment sprawled across the entire park.

The site serves as the primary gateway to Woodgate Valley Country Park, a 450-acre natural haven featuring rivers, meadows and walking trails, but the mass of caravans and vehicles has effectively cut off access.

Outdoor gym equipment was surrounded by parked caravans, and the playing fields, normally bustling with visitors enjoying the summer break, sat empty of their usual users.

One resident remarked she "had never seen so many on there," whilst another dismissed the situation as a "joke."

Mike Clarke, a local who lives just minutes from the park and manages a community page, told The Daily Mail: "It's just a constant nightmare and it's getting worse."

He described witnessing the group entering the site, estimating "easily more than 20 caravans" with more continuing to arrive.

The pattern, he said, repeats roughly every half year. "Last time they left bags of rubbish, toiletries, dirty nappies, they just leave it all. It's like a pig's tip. It's disgusting and it's a really popular spot for us in the summer too."

Local councillor Sam Forsyth painted a similarly bleak picture, adding: "No one can go to the area because it's just full of about 30 caravans, horses and trucks. You can't get in, you can't go there. It's not safe."

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The encampment also jeopardised a scheduled visit by council household waste recycling trucks on Saturday, which residents had been anticipating for weeks.

The mobile tip scheme was introduced by Birmingham City Council to combat the city's fly-tipping crisis, which spiralled last year due to bin shortages.

A previous collection had removed over 20 tonnes of rubbish across 11 trucks.

Ms Forsyth said: "People are just so angry because they want access to the park."

She warned the Saturday visit now appeared likely to be scrapped.

The councillor added that south Birmingham was increasingly becoming a magnet for unauthorised camps, with a significant rise in incidents across the city throughout the year, particularly targeting parks.

Council figures revealed that Birmingham dealt with 132 unauthorised encampments involving 2,280 caravans during 2025-26, marking increases of 43 per cent and 75 per cent respectively compared with the prior year's 92 encampments and 1,308 caravans.

In July alone, up to seven illegal camps were reportedly established across the city.

Residents in West Heath described "living in fear" after travellers occupied Parkdale Park, while more than 40 caravans descended on a green space in Stockland Green.

Further encampments were recorded in Yardley, Sheldon, Kings Norton and Kings Heath.

A council programme designed to offer travelling communities access to unused land was abandoned after no suitable sites could be identified, prompting widespread criticism.

West Midlands Police confirmed they were "liaising with our partners to resolve the situation."

Birmingham City Council said it was "committed to actively protecting its land and will take steps to recover this land where unauthorised encampments encroach upon it."