A CONVOY of travellers was evicted from private land following a 12-hour standoff ahead of what police fear will be a summer of 'cat and mouse games'.

Over 30 vehicles converged in Farleigh Rise, at 7am on Friday morning, camping on land owned by document storage firm Wansdyke Security.

Police were scrambled to the area and spent over 12 hours negotiating before sending the convoy back into Somerset.

All the travellers were issued warnings under the Public Order Act and can be arrested if they commit similar offences in the county.

Inspector Neil Bagnall said the eviction was successful and warned police are prepared to act swiftly against travellers breaking the law this summer.

He said: "In just over 12 hours of getting a call from the public we had peacefully moved the travellers on.

"We consider this to be a success and will be acting swiftly against any travellers breaking the law in Wiltshire in the future.

"This was the first time this year we have had to evict a convoy of travellers and we now expect a summer of cat and mouse games with travellers around the time of Glastonbury and the Summer Solstice."

Around 30 vehicles, including caravans and trucks, with 15 travellers and a number of animals, moved onto land owned by Wansdyke Security on Friday morning.

At the height of the eviction a police helicopter, nine vehicles and 20 officers were on the scene.

An armed response unit was called to Farleigh Rise, which is a mile north of Monkton Farleigh, but police said they were only deployed to add numbers to officers on the scene.

Insp Bagnall said: "We have new powers under the Public Order Act to evict travellers and after we received permission from a magistrate we served eviction notices on every single vehicle breaking the law.

"We then gave them a reasonable amount of time to leave the area and although at times it could have gone either way the travellers left peacefully. There were no arrests and no-one was injured."

"I believe our sheer weight of numbers displayed the police's intent."

The convoy was moved on by 8pm and sent back to Somerset and Avon.

One onlooker said: "I first heard the police helicopter in the afternoon when I was watching television.

"These travellers have been here before over the years but this is the first time this summer."