Derbyshire ice cream man hits out at police after theft amid ‘havoc’ caused by illegal encampment

On Thursday, September 1, a group of travellers established an illegal encampment at The Avenue Washlands park in Wingerworth. They remained there until Monday, September 5, after the landowners instructed bailiffs to remove the travellers from the site.

On Sunday, September 4, ice cream man Gio Manfredi was doing his rounds in Wingerworth. He said that he was on the Avenue estate, close to the encampment, when a group from the site came and stood in the middle of the road, blocking his van.

“Three kids put themselves in the middle of the road with an adult male, forcing me to stop – if not I would have run them over. The adult male came to the window, telling me to serve them ice cream, as he would pay.

“I thought I would go on without prejudice and serve them. They left without paying their bill of £96, and when confronted by someone else from the site, I was told I was stupid to have served them.”

Gio rang the police to report the crime – and was told that no officers would be able to attend.

He said: “I want to wake up the council and the police.

“At the end of the day, we pay for services, I declare everything and pay all my taxes – I do everything by the book and there’s a lot of people who don’t. But then when you do need them for something, they just hang up on you.”

“When I rang the police and told them they had stolen £96 worth of ice cream, the tone was very sarcastic – they were asking ‘what have they bought for £96’. I’ve had my van broken into twice in recent years – in those cases I called the police to report it but no one ever came out.”

Gio said he felt the police did not want to get involved, and said they needed to act to keep people safe when illegal encampments spring up in the area.

“These people barricaded the street and wouldn’t let me past until I served them – I couldn’t do anything. What happens if it happens again – if I call the police, are they going to do anything? Will they come and help me get through if they’re blocking me? I think more needs to be done.”

“You get the vibe that they don’t want to do anything in these types of incidents, that they’re afraid of them – you get the impression that their hands are tied and they’re allowed to get away with it.”

A group of residents from the estate have come together to raise the money that Gio lost – a response that he said was “overwhelming.”

“It’s my only job – I work for myself and I do my own thing. Where it happened, I believe they’ve collected some money to pay for what was stolen yesterday.

“I feel a bit embarrassed to accept it, as it wasn’t their fault, but the response from people in the area has been a bit overwhelming. It’s been nice to receive such good feedback from people.”

Cllr Ross Shipman, who represents Wingerworth and Tupton on North East Derbyshire District Council, also criticised the response to the encampment. He said the Illegal Encampment Taskforce was ineffective at tackling the issue – leaving landowners responsible for ensuring any camps are removed.

“You may hear Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner and local councils wax lyrical about the ‘fantastic’ work of this so called ‘Illegal Encampment Taskforce’, but here’s the thing – it’s a talking shop.

“It doesn’t take any decisions and it doesn’t even force the hand of Derbyshire Police to use the existing powers they have to remove them. It merely puts all the onus on the landowner to go down the civil route in court, at great cost to them, or me and you as taxpayers.

“It’s like you having to go to a civil court to remove somebody that breaks into your house, sits on your sofa watching TV, and won’t leave your house. It’s that ridiculous.”

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Cllr Shipman said that he wanted to see Section 61 notices issued when illegal encampments do materialise in the area.

Section 61 gives officers the power to direct an encampment to leave once the landowner has made reasonable steps to remove the occupants, and certain conditions are met.

S61 notices can be issued if there are two or more trespassers on land with the common purpose of residing, the group has six or more vehicles, and they have caused damage, disruption or distress.

Cllr Shipman added that these groups have caused significant disorder in Wingerworth on more than one occasion – and that they need to be moved on as swiftly as possible.

“In three years of being elected to serve Tupton and Wingerworth, every single illegal encampment I have been involved with has met the criteria to issue a Section 61 notice.

“Instead of talking shop, the PCC and Chief Constable need to get together, make sure resources are available and start issuing Section 61 notices when there are illegal encampments that fall within the criteria needed to issue them.

“So less talking, more action needed from those who are meant to protect us and our local area. We can’t keep being left high and dry while these groups cause havoc time and time again.”

The Derbyshire Times has contacted the PCC’s office and is awaiting a response.