THE travellers who parked their vehicles on Selsley Common have vacated the area, but have left behind a considerable amount of waste.

More than a dozen vehicles were parked on the common on Friday morning and were seen driving around the nature reserve over the weekend.

Members of the public, and an SNJ reporter, received verbal abuse when passing by the site.

Stroud District Council and the police advised the travellers on Saturday that they had 24-hours to leave the area.

After overstaying this notice, the travellers vacated the area on Sunday.

However, the removal of waste left at the site has cost the taxpayer £400-£500.

A Stroud District Council spokesman said: “We sent a team out this morning to carry out a clean-up of the common.

"A 7.5 tonne lorry was used to remove a large quantity of waste including human excrement, a number of conifer trees, assorted clothing, children’s toys, carpets, a ladder, a washing line and a gas bottle.

"We also found the remains of a fire which appeared to have been used to destroy a number of vehicle registration plates.

"We estimate the clean-up cost to be in the region of £400 and £500."