TACKLING Southend’s illegal traveller incursions has become “too dangerous” and plans for a banning order to curb them has been labelled “a pipe dream”.

The borough has seen a number of encampments throughout the summer and the borough’s Conservative opposition group have questioned why Southend Council has not made more use of orders which could, in theory, restrict the number of incursions and cut the length of their stays.

It comes after seafront retailers claimed to have been threatened by members of a group which pitched up in the Kursaal car park last weekend.

But Independent councillor Martin Terry, who oversees public safety in the borough, said while a public spaces protection order does curtail overnight camping, applying it to illegal encampments would put council officers at serious risk if they were asked to confront the travellers.

Under the order, the council’s community safety team and police officers have the power to issue on the spot fines of up to £100. These can increase to up to £1,000 if it is taken to court.

In response to the Tory calls, Mr Terry said: “The PSPO was predominantly aimed at people camping on the cliffs and on the beaches, whereas trying to use a PSPO to ask an officer to go and issue a fixed-penalty notice, which requires a person’s address, and give already-challenging people a £100 fine is frankly a pipe dream.

“It is an inappropriate tool for what you are suggesting. Our community safety officers are not going to be going on to a site, such as the one we saw behind the Kursaal, and attempting to get names and addresses and issue £100 fines.

“We saw even a uniformed police officer was attacked only a couple of days ago on that site.”

When the group of travellers arrived on Eastern Esplanade there were multiple reports of anti-social behaviour that were so serious it force several seafront businesses to close early.

Mr Terry added: “I am not going to have our council officers, who are not trained in public order and don’t have powers of arrest, dealing with things like that. It would be absolutely inappropriate for them to be exposed to that.”

Debate over the PSPO came as the Tories called for a second order to be put in place that would ban all overnight camping in public spaces across the borough.

Council bosses had already expressed serious concerns over the suggestion due to fears it would inadvertently criminalise the homeless.

In a vote during Thursday’s meeting it was rejected.

Tory leader Tony Cox said he was “stunned” by the vote, adding: “The powers in the existing PSPO are that either a police officer or council officer could tell someone to desist from their behaviour and tell someone to move off the site and not return within the vicinity for 48 hours.

“These are powers under the existing PSPO that is in place. We are saying if it is nice enough to have it in the town centre why can’t we have it for all our parks and open spaces? What is wrong about saying we want the same powers?

“We now have the absurd situation where the portfolio holder says I am not going to send someone from the community safety team to actually protect the public.”