POLICE and councillors are "failing miserably" at tackling problems caused by travellers moving across the city, it has been claimed.
Humberside police and crime commissioner Matthew Grove said not enough has been done to solve the "huge problem" caused by travellers in Hull.
The city council has spent £24,000 removing rubbish left at several sites after travellers have left.
In recent months, they have pitched up in Bransholme, Orchard Park, Pickering Park in west Hull and on land near Haltemprice playing fields in Anlaby.
Mr Grove said: "I am absolutely appalled that, in 21st-century Britain, we are not managing this.
"We are failing as a police force and Hull City Council is failing as an authority."
Mr Grove said he wants to see the leaders of Hull and East Riding councils come together to create a new transit site for travellers.
He said: "The two leaders of Hull City Council and East Riding Council, Steve Brady and Stephen Parnaby, must put all their political differences aside, sit in a room with me, and get this problem sorted once and for all.
"These travellers are not daft. They know the law and know that, without a transit site in the region, the police have no power to move them on until after a court order comes through.
"This is why a transit site is absolutely crucial. We then have the powers to move the groups on immediately. We have somewhere to send them and that is the transit site.
"But politicians must stop burying their heads in the sands and work together on this.
"I have spoken to MPs in Westminster and they are happy for local people to suffer. They too have buried their heads in the sand."
Bransholme has been one of the worst-affected areas, with travellers setting up camp at several sites across the estate.
The council spent almost £10,000 clearing up Bude Park after 80 tonnes of rubbish were left behind.
A further £5,000 was spent clearing waste from a site in Orchard Park.
At a meeting of the North Carr Area Committee in Bransholme on Wednesday, councillors accused the police of not doing enough to crack down on the issue.
Bransholme West councillor Phil Webster said: "The police have done absolutely nothing to help get rid of the travellers.
"The perception of the public is that the police are a soft touch and you can see why they think that.
"Criminal damage was done in order for the travellers to get on the sports field in Bude Park.
"That is when, to protect and give the community confidence, police need to step in.
"Why police did not do this is beyond me."
Sutton Park councillor Danny Brown said: "If it was me causing criminal damage, I would have been taken down the cop shop and given a criminal record.
"Why should it be any different for travellers?
"As a result of this, the council has lost huge sums of money it can ill afford. Ordinary people are not happy and it is bizarre decisions like this that sticks in people's throats."
Mr Grove, who was at the meeting, said it would be wrong to simply evict travellers.
He said: "Powering onto a Gypsy site and simply turfing people out is not right or proper. That would be like something out of 1930s Germany.
"These groups of travellers have sick and elderly people, pregnant women and small children with them.
"This problem is as big as it has been now because we do not have a transit site."
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