TRAVELLERS illegally camped on St Nicholas Park car park in Warwick cost the council more than £3,000 in lost ticket revenue.
Warwick District Council (WDC) usually makes more than £6,000 a week from the car park which is used by those visiting the popular park, the leisure centre, neighbouring castle and nearby town centre.
But in the week over the new year that the travellers set up camp just £2,800 was raised.
No penalty tickets were issued to the travellers while they were on the site which WDC said was due to the fear for the safety of its parking wardens.
Travellers were a regular sight in the area from November through to this month – moving between sites in Warwick, Leamington and and Stratford.
A spokesman for the district council said: “The council takes the safety and security of staff very seriously and have deemed there is a potential increased risk to the safety of our staff if they issue a penalty charge within a traveller encampment.
“The council’s focus therefore is to remove the encampment as swiftly as possible.”
The latest revelation comes just weeks after the Observer exclusively revealed more than £40,000 has been spent dealing with illegal traveller encampments in Warwick district over the past 18 months.
The council spent some £42,000 on moving and cleaning up 50 illegal encampments.
During this time travellers stopped on Newbold Comyn eight times, Tapping Way five times, and pitched up at Myton Fields on four occasions.
The council will soon by law have to provide 31 permanent pitches and six to eight transit pitches for gypsies and travellers.
