THE last of the travellers who have been camped on a grass verge in Avebury were evicted on Tuesday.

They left peacefully when sheriff's officers accompanied by police arrived to move them under an order issued by the courts.

Their departure ended a three-year saga for villagers who had complained about the makeshift campsite on a grass verge at the side of Green Street which the travellers had named Emanon, no name spelt backwards.

The National Trust gained a county court order barring travellers from camping on its land in Avebury and the Silbury World Heritage site. It also successfully applied to magistrates for an order to stopped the piece of verge as a highway.

Marlborough area police commander, Insp Bill Dowling, said the eviction operation had been peaceful. "It was all very friendly," he said.

Rob Mimmack, the National Trust's Avebury site manager, said: "The last time we went there, there was quite a big group and we decided to leave it to a quieter occasion.

This time there were only three of the travellers present and it was totally peaceable."