Sutton Council's legal team is cracking down on the waves of illegal traveller camps that have appeared in the borough over the summer.

It hopes a new policy will help keep parks and open spaces clear of unwanted camps which have been causing havoc over the last few months.

Groups of travellers had been setting up camp in various parks including Mellows Park, Beddington Park and Roundshaw Park and after eviction they would merely move from one to the other.

Neighbours have reported music blaring late at night and travellers using parks as a racing track.

In some cases rubbish has been left behind including beer cans and nappies and in July there was a stand-off in Mellows Park between travellers and police.

The parks teams are now using a byelaw which bans travellers from setting up camp in the borough’s parks.

It forces travellers to leave within 24 hours if they set up a camp and prevents them from driving down the road and setting up nearby.

Before using the byelaw, officers were forced to go through a process that often took more than a week to move on travellers.

Tracy Macheta, from Wallington, who worked with the council to stop travellers entering Mellows Park, welcomed the news.

She said: "We at Mellows Park are very grateful.

"I think it sends out a clear message to the travellers that it’s just not acceptable."

Councillor Jill Whitehead, chairman of Sutton’s environment and neighbourhoods committee, said: "We live in a beautiful borough and our parks are a source of real pride and joy to residents.

"That is why it is so important we do everything we can to make sure they are available for everyone to enjoy and why I am so pleased that we have this new method of evicting people who set up illegal camps."

The council is using the Byelaw With Respect to Pleasure Grounds, that it allows the authority to evict camps in 24 hours and bans travellers from setting up a new camp in a number of named locations.