SNAPSHOT figures show a small drop in the total number of traveller caravans counted in Colchester within a year.

This January, it was recorded 56 caravans overall were counted compared to 60 in the same month in 2018.

The Government statistics include caravans on both authorised and non-authorised sites. Forty-six of the caravans in Colchester at the time were private and on authorised sites with the remaining ten being “tolerated” caravans on travellers’ own land, but an unauthorised site.

Across Essex the traveller count has fallen by ten per cent on last year, from 1,681 to 1,514.