Lawyers are drawing up a legal notice ordering travellers to leave Gunnersbury Park after they refused to go of their own accord, Hounslow Council said this morning.

About a dozen caravans have been camped in the park's lower field, near Gunnersbury Avenue, since they arrived just after 9pm on Sunday (June 8).

The council said it has security officers on site around the clock, and the gates, which were locked yesterday morning, are now open so people can use the park as normal.

A council spokesman also said it was aware of rubbish being dumped on the grounds, on the borders of Hounslow and Ealing boroughs, and was arranging to have it removed.

Rubbish which people living beside the park say has been dumped by the travellers (photo by MarkoD (@tekanada))

The legal notice is likely to be issued today or tomorrow. Should the travellers still refuse to move, the council will have to go to court, possibly this Friday, to obtain an eviction order.