Devon council closes leisure centre as travellers arrive

A leisure centre in Devon has been closed for "the safety of staff and customers" due to the arrival of travellers, a council has said.

Mid Devon District Council said on Sunday it closed Lord's Meadow Leisure Centre in Crediton over a group there.

On Monday, the council reopened the site, but said travellers had arrived at Culm Valley Sports Centre and that would be closed.

The council said the legal route to disperse the travellers was under way.

In a statement, the council said: "Many of our leisure customers will already be aware that both our Crediton and Cullompton leisure sites have been visited my members of the travelling community over the past few days.

"While our staff initially tried to keep Lord's Meadow open, for the benefit of our customers, it quickly became apparent that for the safety of our staff and customers the centre had to temporarily close.

"A clean-up operation continues at Lords Meadow, but the centre is open and we would like to thank our staff for ensuring the site reopened as quickly as possible.

"Unfortunately, the situation is now being repeated at Culm Valley and all the leisure facilities at Culm Valley will remain closed while the visitors remain on site."

The council thanked customers for their patience and apologised for the inconvenience this situation had caused.

It added: "The council is looking at what, if any, steps we can take to prevent such a closure again and considering ways to minimise disruption to our loyal customers, although this is difficult as we need to maintain access to our car parks for our customers."

Follow BBC Devon on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.