Organisers face “a few logistical problems” but are glad to have an alternative site nearby

Tipton St John’s Bank Holiday Monday summer fete has had to be relocated three days before it is due to take place, after travellers used the school field where it should have been held “as a latrine”.

The travellers had been camped on the car park opposite the field where the Tipton Old Tyme Fayre was scheduled to take place.

Fortunately for the fete, the nearby Sundial Nursing Home, just 100m away, has offered up its grounds for the event.

“It gives us a few logistical problems, with power points and parking and so on, but I think we’ll be all right,” said the fete’s chairman Mike Smith.

“It’s a very nice location and we’ll have more space there than we would have had on the school field.”

“We had a week or 10 days of the travellers using the school field as a latrine, and naturally both we and the school wanted it professionally cleaned.” He explained that it was unclear whether this would be completed by Monday, so the decision was taken to find another site.

The fete starts at noon and will feature stallholders in Victorian costumes, and a children’s fancy dress competition for the ‘scruffiest urchin.”

The move to the grounds of the Sundial care home will be good for its residents, who will be able to enjoy the fete in their own gardens rather than being taken to the school field by their carers.