Keeping Eton’s Stockdales Road recreation ground safe from invasion by travellers is proving more complicated than was initially thought.

Members of Eton Town Council were unsure at their meeting on Thursday whether or not to surround the field with metal barriers, as an effective guard against an unwelcome repeat of last month’s unwelcome arrivals.

Cllr Peter Lawless felt they could be low level enough not to be too obtrusive and would not cost too much. He warned that keeping the ground safe was a priority.

But Cllr Duncan Reed was opposed to the idea and his colleague Cllr Ron Lewandowski agreed, fearing steel barriers would look utilitarian and ‘dead boring’.

Eton’s mayor Cllr Derek Bishop felt that it would be best to hear what people in Eton thought themselves.

The Town Council agreed to put out a flyer indicating that it was thinking of putting up a steel barrier round the ground and see what sort of reaction it got from residents.