FRESH security measures are set to be installed at a disused army base on the edge of Winchester after scores of travellers forced entry to the site.

The Church Commissioners - which owns Bushfield Camp off Badger Farm Road - has said it plans to beef up the 15 hectare plot's perimeter by replacing the previous agricultural border fencing with a palisade alternative.

Concrete blocks will also be placed in front of the entrance to the land - which has been disused since the 1970s.

This comes after residents described seeing a 'convoy' of caravans move the concrete barricade and head into the site late Thursday evening.

Officers said the group left the former army training facility late last week, but have yet to confirm whether any legal action was taken to shift the encampment.

The Church Commissioners has attempted to develop the area for housing and even a Tesco superstore in the 1980s, but were always resisted by the city council.

The military camp has since been earmarked for a ‘knowledge park’ but the economic situation makes that highly uncertain.

This is the second time in as many weeks police have been called out to travellers who have forcibly set up camp across the Winchester district.

Shedfield Parish Council had to hire professional cleaners to deal with piles of mess - including clothes, food and human excrement - which were left on the common by travellers who tore up wooden posts to access the site. However, the Church Commissioners said there was no such mess left at Bushfield Camp.