A travelling mum-of-five who has travelled in a caravan all her life has spoken of her challenging lifestyle when she is "always on the run". Sarah Smith, a 50-year-old mixed traveller from England, is among 12 families that arrived at a Nottingham retail park late at night on Tuesday (March 22) and who are now looking to leave.
She was wearing a robe, leaning against the doorway of the van and bluntly said: "I do not even know where I am, I did not know I was in Nottingham. Everyday we are waking up somewhere else and then we have to leave so you lose track really."
A dozen caravans arrived pitched up on the grounds of a car park at the Redfield Way Boulevard Retail Park, off the A52 Clifton Boulevard. Families, including children and a few dogs were spread across the land. An eyewitness said they spotted the travellers near the Showcase Cinema before the witness added the group had made their way towards the Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club and Casino.
As well as Showcase Cinema, the retail park is home to restaurants such as Five Guys, Frankie and Benny's, Nando's and Chiquito. Video footage - taken at around 8pm on Tuesday night - had shown caravans on the grounds of the retail park.
Ms Smith, who said she does not know another way of living, added: "Nowhere is good. We are not wanted anywhere now. We already had officers coming here and telling us to leave."
She went on and said: "It has been like this every day of our lives. You cannot go to people and ask for a glass of water because they might get aggressive towards us. It is like we are always on the run."
Ms Smith said she was unable to work because she has to care for one of her children who is disabled. She also describes herself as "gypsy, as we all are whether we are Roma or Irish".
"At the end of the day we are all gypsy," she added. "And people seem to have something against us just because we do not live in houses on the ground. I could never live like that - it is just not for me."
However, for people like Ms Smith who has never known another way of living, the introduction of a new law by the Government could mean the end of her nomadic lifestyle. The new trespassing laws introduced in Part 4 of its flagship Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will create a new criminal offence targeted at those who refuse to remove their vehicles from private or public land.
The conditions of the new offence are clear - if people do not commit significant harms and if they leave when asked to by the police or landowner, they will not risk having their vehicle seized, a fine or prison time. Ms Smith has criticised the bill, adding: "This is our way of living - and it has been like this for centuries."
She pointed at the vacant car park in front of the casino and said: "Why cannot we just make use of a car park that is not being used? We are always being kicked out, we are forced to live this way. But we got used to it. We got used to people being rude to us, and we start being rude to them because we feel like we need to fight back."
Ms Smith, a heartbroken traveller, said she deserves respect. She added: "We always have to be in defence, we always have to stand our ground. It is getting frustrating having to explain yourself every time. People condemn our lifestyle, but they choose to travel in caravans on their holidays."
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She said she does not know what her next destination is, or when she will leave the area. "All I know is that we have to leave soon. You cannot change people's perception," she added.
A Government spokesperson said: “The majority of Travellers are law-abiding and we respect their right to follow a nomadic way of life. No one should have unchecked rights to trespass on other people’s land without their permission and cause harm and boundless misery to local communities without consequence. As is the theme with many of the measures in this Bill, this new offence for unauthorised encampments is about giving the police the right powers and flexibility to protect the law-abiding majority from disruption and harm.”
Nottinghamshire Live approached Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club and Casino for comment.
