BOULDERS and bollards have been installed on a field to stop travellers from pitching up there in the future.

Noak Bridge Parish Council took the decision to install the nine one-tonne boulders and two bollards on the playing field at South Wash Road after repeated calls for action from the public.

Terri Sargeant, chairman of the council, said they had decided not to wait for Basildon Council and instead took the initiative themselves.

She said: “It has been great to deliver something the residents wanted.

“There was an incursion one September a couple of years ago, but last June we were planning an event on the field and the week before it travellers pulled up.

“The event went ahead but there was a lot of worry.

“I went to Basildon Council’s regeneration committee to ask for their help, but my motion got voted down. So I reported back to the parish council and we decided it was what the residents wanted.

“In the end we decided to do it.”

Travellers have blighted the playing field several times recently, causing disruption and other times leaving litter for others to pick up.

The parish council hopes that the boulders and bollards will act as a deterrent for travellers attempting to access the field, but will still allow council staff to look after it.

Travellers arrived on the park last year, despite the efforts of councillors and residents who tried to block their way, just days before the annual summer fete took place on July 1.

They were moved on and the fete was a great success.

Mrs Sargeant worked alongside Paul Downes, chairman of Noak Bridge Village Residents’ Association, to get the work done.

The bollards cost £672 and the boulders £2,772.

She said: “We owe Paul a big thank you because he did a marvellous job project managing it for us.

“We have to listen to the local people because we are spending their money and it has been a pleasure to do it.

“We didn’t want to take this action and keep people out but we have done the right thing.

“The residents are saying to us they feel secure now.

“We are not saying we will not get any incursion from anyone but hopefully it will act as a deterrent from now on.”