A MASSIVE cleanup operation was carried out on Monday after travellers left a car park covered in human waste and animal excrement.

The travellers moved off the site at Bumpers Farm, Chippenham, where they had been staying for a week, hours before they were due to be moved on.

More than 20 caravans left Lansdowne Court on Sunday night. Bailiffs and police had been due at the site the following morning.

The travellers left with their caravans, vans and ponies but left a mountain of rubbish behind.

Landowner Country Estates sent four workers in and they spent the whole day cleaning up.

Brian Horton, estate manager who took part in the clean-up said: "It was the most disgusting job. There was every possible kind of waste you can imagine," said estate manager Brian Horton.

A large skip was filled with waste and the excrement was separately treated and disposed of.

"There was everything from clothes, food, nappies, human waste and things I don't even want to mention," said Mr Horton.

The travellers also damaged the landscaped area and chopped down trees for firewood.

Mr Horton said: "They lit fires on the car park so we will have to lift and relay the paving. All the flowerbeds had to be replanted because their children had been playing in them."

The car park was finally back in use on Tuesday.

A traveller who lives at Thingley Caravan Park, near Notton, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the only reason the caravans had moved on to Bumpers Farm was because the council did not provide them with enough legitimate sites.

"They keep giving spaces to others which is pushing the legitimate travellers out, with nowhere to go.

"The problem that we are having is that people who live in council housing apply for a space on these sites because it is cheaper to live.

"They are taking up spaces specifically designated to travellers," she said.

Mr Horton said Country Estates is now taking measures to ensure the travellers do not return.

"We are going to put in an entrance barrier and internal fencing. It will be inconvenient for staff but they understand and fully support us,"he said.

The travellers from Bumpers Farm have now moved on and have set up a new camp on a site in Filands in Malmesbury.