North Warwickshire Borough Council said recent incidents of vandalism had prompted it to ask the group to move from Alvecote Travellers' Site.

The authority said that trouble began last month when the site warden retired from his post and moved out of his bungalow.

It said a number of blocks on the site were then vandalised, causing thousands of pounds of damage.

Repair work

Items were also stolen from the warden's empty property.

The council has decided the site must be empty while repair work is carried out.

The residents were given notice to vacate the land last weekend and have been given until Monday to leave.

Peter Oliver, the authority's director of housing, said: "We are completely mystified as to why this vandalism has happened and why it should have started with the warden's retirement.

"Although management of the site will now pass back to the county council, the residents did tell us that they wanted to remain on the site - this is not the right way for them to go about it.

"We are now starting to gather information about these events, which we shall of course pass on to the police for further investigation," he added.