The aftermath of the camp. | Photo: Boston Borough Council
Lincolnshire Police have said COVID-19 restrictions caused what councillors said was a “failed” response to an illegal traveller camp in Boston.
Travellers occupied an illegal encampment on Woodville Road play park between July 31 and August 5 this year.
They were said to have threatened to “break people’s fingers”, “riot” and “never leave” the site despite being told a vehicle crime officer would be visiting.
The incident led to a police decision to leave the site until the case went to court because the force “did not have adequate resources at that time to deal with large disorder”.
This is the fourth time an illegal encampment has been set up on the same site in three years.
During a meeting of Boston Town Area Committee (BTAC) on Thursday, Councillor Brian Rush said: “We failed here, didn’t we. We failed to have anyone noticing that those same travellers I believe left Skegness on that day and were on the move.”
Piles of litter were left behind. Photo: Boston Borough Council
Chief Superintendent Chris Davison, Area Commander for East Lincolnshire said: “The COVID-19 restrictions meant that we have been trying to minimise unnecessary contact, which could have meant large amounts of officers having to isolate for periods of two weeks or more.
“There was insufficient immediately available resources to deal with any large-scale disorder.”
It was estimated that there were 80 travellers on the site and that a minimum of 160 police officers would have been needed during the incident.
Chief Superintendent Davison said this would be a 10th of his force and warned that “we could have lost those members of our force for up to two weeks” if they had to self-isolate.
He added officers are in “high demand” and suggested “we should have had a multi-agency decision-making group”. This would mean partners such as the council and police would come to a joint decision around what action to take.
The cleanup operation. | Photo: Boston Borough Council
The play area had to undergo a deep clean after the illegal encampment. Clean-up of the site, officer time and legal fees cost Boston Borough Council £473.69.
Councillor Deborah Evans described the fence as “excellent” and said “it’s a really good safety feature as well”.
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Marc Jones, the re-elected Conservative Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said that his work is not done, as he’s looking forward to a further three years in the role.
Mr Jones won with a 57.9% majority of the poll from the first round of counting, with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout. A total of 177,528 votes were placed county-wide.
The nearest candidate was Labour’s Rosanne Kirk, with a 19% share of the votes, with Lincolnshire Independent David Williams securing the third spot with 10%.
The breakdown of the votes cast on Thursday, May 6, and counted on Saturday, may 8, was:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Marc Jones: “More work to do”
“It’s very gratifying to have concluded today on the first count, that was a really positive thing for what I’ve delivered so far,” said Mr Jones.
“But I’m under no illusions having spoken to many around the county there’s an awful lot more work to do.”
He said he wanted to assure the public that “nothing was taken for granted”.
Rosie Kirk – Labour – 2nd place
Labour’s candidate Rosie Kirk said she was “thrilled for her party” across all three elections that had taken place in Lincolnshire this week.
“The votes that we got was incredible. Our message got through and to actually come second in a Conservative county is really great,” she said.
However, she added that there were “lots of questions that still need to be asked” and promised to keep up her scrutiny of Marc in his role.
Ross Pepper – Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat candidate Ross Pepper said the result was not “entirely unexpected”.
However, he said he was proud of the three Liberal Democrat councillors that had won seats in the local elections at Lincolnshire County and City of Lincoln Councils.
“I’m ready to work with them for a better Lincolnshire and a better Lincoln,” he said.
“In a Conservative heavy county we did a really good job of getting the Liberal Democrat message out there… and we continue pushing that message through local campaigning in the future.”
David Williams – Lincolnshire Independents
David Williams, the Lincolnshire Independents PCC candidate congratulated Marc Jones on his victory but said it is “not a surprising outcome”.
“I’m really pleased to have run for the post, because if I hadn’t have had a go to do a job that I really would have relished then I would have looked back and regretted not having taking the opportunity.”
Peter Escreet – Reform UK
Peter Escreet, the Reform UK candidate also said the result “was as expected” but actually he was “pleasantly surprised,” saying that this is “just the start”.
“The real campaign is in three years’ time” where Mr Escreet wants to grow a majority.
Conservative Marc Jones has been re-elected to the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner role.
He won from the first round of counting with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout.
The PCC oversees the strategy and finances of the force, and also hires and fires chief constables, who are responsible for the daily policing operations.
Mr Jones will be in the position for three years.
The breakdown of the results is:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Here’s the live result announcement, the reactions and acceptance speech:
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