Unauthorised encampments have been described as a “tricky issue” by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Darryl Preston said they can “cause a lot of concern” in communities, but said he understood there were two sides to the situation and that “law abiding” members of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) community were welcome.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 gave police additional powers to arrest and seize vehicles and property of people who ‘reside or intend to reside’ on land with a vehicle.

The law has faced backlash from campaigners and members of the GRT community.

In Cambridge, the city council has been challenged in recent months to provide more safe stopping places, particularly in light of the Bill, and has committed to addressing the lack of stopping sites in the city.

Mr Preston said the Bill was a government manifesto pledge and said unauthorised encampments can “cause a lot of concern in local communities”.

He said: “Quite often I have calls from members of the public quite irate with this.

“I also completely understand that there are always two sides of the and clearly the law abiding travelling community are welcome as far as I am concerned.

“What the issue is then there are reports of antisocial behaviour or crime, clearly we do not take that on face value, that needs to be investigated.”

Mr Preston said deciding whether the threshold for enforcement had been met under the Bill would be a decision weighed up between police and local authorities.

He said: “For the threshold to be met, they have got to be causing, or likely to cause significant damage, disruption, or distress.

“It is for the police and partners, such as, the local authorities to decide if that threshold has been met before action is taken.

“That has got to be a partnership really between local authority, police, if it is private land with the landowner, and local communities as well.

“This is a really tricky issue, and it does have an impact. We have seen occasions when there have been unlawful encampments, and there has been some fairly significant disruption to local communities, clearly none of us want that.”

Mr Preston said he had not yet met with members of the GRT community to discuss the Bill and their views on it but said he is trying to arrange a meeting in the “not too distant future”.