A man has been fined after going into a Traveller’s site that has been shut down.

Court documents show that on July 23, 36-year-old Terrance Howarth breached a court order by entering the Crompton Lodge Traveller's site.

Howarth, of Westwood Close, Farnworth, pleaded guilty before Wigan and Leigh Magistrates Court on Tuesday July 23 and was fined £200.

He was also ordered to pay an £80 surcharge.

Bolton Council announced earlier this year that it was to apply to the courts for an order to close down Crompton Lodge Caravan Site, off Hall Lane in Moses Gate.

The site has been linked to various alleged offencesThe site has been linked to various alleged offences (Image: Newsquest)

When the authority first announced it was seeking the closure order it said that officials had become concerned about alleged crimes and violence linked to the site.

Speaking in June, a spokesperson said: “As a council, we fully recognise our statutory duty to make provisions for the Traveller community.

“However, we have now reached a point where it is no longer possible to safely maintain and run this site, despite a number of joint interventions over many years.

“Due to repeated hostility, council employees and contractors are unable to visit without a police escort, and this is no longer sustainable.”

Bolton Council, which owns and manages the site, said in July that there had been a sharp rise in suspected criminal activity linked to the site over the previous six months.

At the time the council said that alleged crimes committed at the Crompton Lodge site included guns and ammunition having been seized and violence against authority staff.

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Officials also said that stolen vehicles and motor parts had been found as well as stolen dogs and that there was evidence of large scale cannabis production.

They also said stolen high value plant machinery was found and that there had been large scale incidents of disorder, with criminal damage, fly tipping and knife point robberies.

The council made the application to Greater Manchester Magistrates Court for a closure order under Section 80 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.

Breaching a closure order is a criminal offence carrying a penalty of either imprisonment for a period of up to six months or an unlimited fine, or both.