A council has confirmed just how much it has spent moving on travellers this summer.

Officers at Hertsmere Borough Council have been extremely busy over the past few months dealing with no less than 15 incursions onto its land across the borough; most of which have been in Borehamwood.

In total, the council, and in effect the taxpayers, have been forced to fork out £41,650 but a large chunk of that money has been spent on securing two sites in Bushey.

£17,000 has been spent at Park Avenue and King George Recreation Ground where some bollards have been installed to stop caravans getting onto the land.

Around £14,000 represents the estimated cost of employees’ time in dealing with the travellers while £10,000 has been spent for bailiffs to help evict travellers from parks across Hertsmere.

The rest of the money went towards covering overtime for staff and clearing waste.

The council has served a number of notices of direction and has been successful in securing a number of removal orders from St Albans Magistrates Court. Each case costs approximately £500, however this has been paid for each time out of the council’s existing legal budget.

Four caravans and one motorhome are currently camped in Ripon Park in Borehamwood and the council are seeking a removal order.

Frustrated neighbours and Hertsmere Labour councillors have called for greater protection of parks by installing posts and bollards and the council has said it is considering “longer term options”.

Hertsmere MP Oliver Dowden is also working to find a solution and this weekend, leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, Morris Bright, admitted he was fed-up" with the string of incursions.

Last week, the council revealed it could cost £40,000 to protect Ripon Park alone. The council has confirmed the £40,000 figure is an estimate from its finance team and is based on the cost of installing bollards in Park Avenue.

A council spokesman said: “The total cost of the council’s response to the traveller incursions is £41,650. Much of this sum includes money spent to provide the necessary security at sites to prevent further incursions and on the existing salaries of staff. The council has sought at every step to minimise the extra cost to the taxpayer.

“The council is currently considering a number of options to provide a long term solution to the traveller incursions, which could include bollards.”