THE FUTURE of PetersfieldÕs prestigious championship obedience dog show is in doubt after travellers turned the event into a nightmare for the organisers.

It was one of several occasions when travellers clashed with Petersfield people and police after moving onto town council-owned land at Penns Place last week.

Organisers of the massive Petersfield Town Juniors six-a-side football competition also faced problems in setting up for their tournament due to take place this weekend.

And during the busy weekend for police, more than 20 officers were called to the travellersÕ camp when policemen tried to arrest a drunk driver there. At the same

time colleagues were called to the Rugby Club where a fight had broken out

between guests.

Chief Steward Dave Banks from the Petersfield and District Dog Training Society said human excrement had to be cleared from the field before the show could take place on Sunday. A private security firm had to be hired to protect the societyÕs equipment and throughout the day competitors were intimidated by the threatening behaviour of the travellers.

The Petersfield and District Dog Training Society Show is one of 48 obedience qualifiers for Crufts. It has been a championship event for three years and was an open event for 10 years before that.

It attracts more than a thousand entries from competitors as far afield as Devon and Cornwall, Cheshire and Northumberland.

Mr Banks told The Herald: ÒThis is the third year the travellers have affected us, but it was the worst this year and now the future of the show is in doubt. It certainly wonÕt happen at Penns Place again. It is tragic for the dog training fraternity and a loss to Petersfield of a prestigious event.Ó

He said organisers may look at holding it in the Alton area on a farmerÕs land.

He said he first heard on Tuesday, five days before the show, that travellers had again set up camp at Penns Place.

ÒI rushed straight down there to have a look and I couldnÕt believe my eyes. They were on the same patch of land that we would have been using, there were about 30 caravans and there was human excrement everywhere.Ó

When he contacted the landowners, Petersfield Town Council, he learned that the council was hoping for a county court order on Friday, May 30 for the eviction of the travellers. But this would not require the travellers to leave until early this week.

Mr Banks was forced to contact more than thousand competitors by email to inform them of the situation and he estimated that around 250 chose not to come.

ÒWe had to pay a private security firm to protect our equipment from 6 pm on Saturday evening to 6 am on Sunday morning,Ó said Mr Banks.

ÒWhen we arrived at 5-30 am on Sunday, we had to clear all the human excrement before we could set up for the show.Ó

Mr Banks said guards were posted around the field for the protection of the 700 cars which arrived and the dogs taking part in the show.

ÒSome of the travellers were intimidating, driving their vans straight at competitors and those sitting eating their lunches,Ó Mr Banks told The Herald.

Chairman of the Town Juniors Football Club, Iain Robinson, told The Herald members had been forced to call police after being threatened as they marked out pitches in readiness for the clubÕs annual tournament this weekend.

ÒThe travellers were abusive and intimidating, some of the children ended up in tears because of the bullying and cars were driven at us.Ó

He said the cost of putting on the event had quadrupled due to the travellers.

ÒWe have had to put up fencing and

pay professional security men to guard

the site.Ó

The travellers left the site on Tuesday and specialist cleaners employed by the town council were quickly on the site. They have had to clear an abandoned car and other waste left by the travellers.

Mr Robinson said the six-a-side tournament would be going ahead on Saturday and Sunday, when around 2,000 youngsters from 200 teams across the South East of England would be taking part. Organisers would be making a final detailed check of the ground before the event, he said and the outskirts of the area used by the travellers would be cordoned off

The rugby club, said Mr Robinson, had offered the use of its land to the young footballers who could not use part of the town council land, which had housed the travellersÕ camp.

Mr Robinson paid tribute to the police and the town council for their handling of the travellers: ÒWe had a really good response from the police every time we asked for help and a very good attitude from the town council.Ó

Insp Steve Sargent told The Herald police had received a Òcatalogue of complaintsÓ all week during the visit of the travellers.

ÒWe had many calls from the dog show organisers who said the travellers were disrupting the show and intimidating the competitors and their dogs and officers went to assist several times on Sunday.Ó

The police also visited Penns Place at the request of the Town Juniors.

ÒWe also had calls from residents in the town over travellers causing a nuisance and from the recycling tip in Bedford Road.Ó

He said at one point on Saturday there were around 20 officers at Penns Place after reinforcements had to be called from Havant and Whitehill to deal with the fight at the wedding reception and a drunk driver on the travellersÕ camp.