There had been reports of criminality and threatening behaviour
16:42, 05 Aug 2025Updated 16:43, 05 Aug 2025
A group of van dwellers has been cleared from New Stadium Road, East Bristol(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
A group of van dwellers have been cleared from a site near Ikea following allegations of threatening and anti-social behaviour. Bristol City Council was prompted to act after inhabitants of the site on New Stadium Road, Eastville, allegedly threw a bottle at contractors and threatened them when they approached.
There had been an encampment at the location for over a decade, but council officers moved in to clear the site as well as abandoned vehicles from the road. Councillor Barry Parsons, chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, said action was taken after the most recent occupants of the site had displayed “evidence of criminality.”
He added: “The most recent group to occupy the site has been causing a number of anti-social behaviour issues, with evidence of criminality. We have been working in close liaison with the Neighbourhood Policing Teams and a wider multi agency partnership to address this.
“We have taken legal action to remove the encampment, and most of the vehicles have now left the site. We began taking proactive steps to improve the area, remove anti-social and illegal behaviour, and make it safer for people passing through and using the local shops. However, when our contractors visited the site last week they were threatened and had a bottle thrown at their truck. We understand this has been reported to the police.”
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On Monday (August 4), a series of yellow cones had been placed along New Stadium Road. Signs dotted along the road stated that a tow away zone was in place and a truck could be seen preparing to remove one of the last remaining vans from the site.
Cllr Parsons confirmed the council planned to take action to stop the encampment returning. He added: “We are now taking further advice before we continue with our plans to repaint the existing yellow lines and install planters to try to stop this encampment returning, as well as working with Bristol Waste to remove the large amounts of rubbish and fly tipped materials around the site.”
(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
The van removal at Eastville comes as council officers also removed vehicle dwellers from other sites around the city. In late July, six vehicles were removed from Carlton Park in Redfield, due to what the council described as “evidence of drug dealing and other anti-social behaviour next to a school”.
A further 13 vehicles were evicted from the Tramways site in Brislington because of issues of waste and abandoned and dangerous vehicles.
However, no action has been taken to remove dwellers from the Downs, despite the fact that Bristol City Council had secured an injunction against people parking on grassy areas of Clifton and Durdham Downs and on Ladies Mile Road. That injunction is yet to be formally served, so council officers cannot serve notices to anyone who may be in breach of it.
Bristol City Council was contacted to clarify when the Downs injunction would be enforceable. The Downs encampment has been a particularly emotive issue for some residents of North Bristol, who have banded together to form the Protect The Downs group to demand the removal of the roughly 150 vehicles stationed there.
The number of live-in vehicles across Bristol now totals around 650, up from an estimate of 150 just five years ago. Between 800 and 900 people are thought to be living in those vehicles.
“As the number of lived in vehicles in Bristol has grown significantly in recent years the council recognises that the current situation across the city is not sustainable and is taking a proactive stance on addressing issues,” said Cllr Parsons.
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