Travellers who were staying in a park for almost a week have gone, and now the clean up mission is on.

The Irish group arrived last Friday evening and were issued with a court order to leave yesterday.

They had 24 hours to get out the park before they would be forcibly removed by bailiffs, and left of their own accord just a few hours before the deadline this morning.

Council workers were in the park later today, loading up trucks with bags of waste.

Residents expressed their concerns this week about human waste being left on the site.

The park is currently under refurbishment and the toilet blocks are closed, but the travellers did have access to some public portable toilets, so the rubbish being bagged up was limited to general household waste.

A spokesman for Gravesham council said: "Most of the rubbish was put in black bags [by the travellers] but council litter pickers went out to the site this morning to tidy up the area where more rubbish had been left and where they had a couple of fires."

There is a large scorched patch on the ground where the travellers lit a bonfire during the week.

Kent Fire and Rescue was called, but the blaze was found to be under control.

There was also some minor damage to trees.

The travellers managed to get into the park through a double gate which has been left unlocked during the evening.

One man whose house overlooks the park said: "I walk past the park every morning for work at 6am, and there’s people already in there. The gates are shut at dusk, but not always locked overnight. That needs to be addressed."

The council has now confirmed that while the gate for pedestrian access remains open, the double gates which allow vehicles through have now been locked.