Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Council chiefs will return to work on Tuesday to find they have to deal with two more unauthorised encampments at sites across the city. Residents have taken to social media to reveal that at around 7am this morning a group of Travellers set up temporary home at the George Park and Ride, while another group were seen to drive onto the large field at Mutley Park. One resident near the park and ride in noted that the visitors had "taken up all the disabled parking bays" at the George Park and Ride. Another resident, who lives near the Mutley Park encampment described "15" caravans having settled. They told PlymouthLive the field was "now out of bounds for families this Bank Holiday Weekend". Earlier this week PlymouthLive reported on two other unauthorised encampments, at Knowle Battery and Staddiscombe playing fields. In both cases Plymouth City Council issued Notices to Quit the sites, which allows the Travellers 24 hours to move on. (Image: submitted) In both instances the notices were bot acted upon and the council were forced to seek a possession order from the court, which will take several days, or longer as we are now entering a Bank Holiday Weekend, when magistrates and District Judges will not be sitting. Here's the council's legal obligations and guidance on such encampments, as stated on its website: What happens when an unauthorised encampment is reported to the council? As soon as we have a reported encampment, the Community Connections Team checks if the land in question is Council-owned. If it is not, we inform the landowner and we can offer legal advice. If it is on Council-owned land, the Community Connections Team will respond. Then what? We check the site and order bins and toilets to support the community and minimise the impact on the area. We carry out a community impact assessment – which looks at the wider impact of the encampment on the site. This will inform the legal procedures in place so that an eviction can be arranged after we gain possession. We send the welfare checks to our legal team and they prepare a Notice to Quit. What is a Notice to Quit? This is a legal document that informs the occupants of the unauthorised encampment that they have 24 hours to vacate the site. The Notice to Quit is served on the occupants. What happens if the Notice to Quit is ignored? When the Notice to Quit expires, if it is confirmed that the group have not vacated, papers can then be prepared for the court to apply for a possession hearing. The court will tell us the date. How long does this take? The court sets a hearing date, usually around a week later. This is because of court rules surrounding notice periods. Once the hearing takes place, the court will determine if possession is granted and if it is, we receive a possession order which is served to the occupants signalling an eviction is going to take place. How do you evict them? Once we have a possession order, the Council has access to County Court bailiffs and private High Court enforcement officers. We will always use the most appropriate, depending on availability and circumstances.