The county’s landowners and landlords are being given expert legal advice to deal with trespassers and squatters.

Kevin Morgan, a partner and civil litigation expert from Shropshire law firm mfg Solicitors, said there has been a surge in illegal occupation across the UK, driven by housing shortages and economic pressures.

He has urged landowners to contact the police in the first instance if they find trespassers or squatters, but warned that officers probably would not be able to help with evictions.

Kevin said: “As a landowner, one of your worst and most upsetting nightmares is to find ‘persons unknown’ squatting or trespassing on your land.

“We are seeing that vacant commercial and residential premises can be vulnerable, as is land that cannot be easily secured, such as car parks. However, any land could be occupied by trespassers.

“Trespassers take many forms and to take back possession can be time-consuming, especially when it’s linked to criminal fly-tipping These groups tend to focus on open land or badly secured vacant premises near to urban areas.

“As a landowner you have some common law rights to regain possession, and they can assist. However, caution must be taken, as forcibly retaking possession of your own land without a court order may be considered a criminal offence.

“If professional security operatives are unable to obtain possession or recommend court action, a solicitor can act swiftly working in conjunction with your agents or security to apply for and obtain the necessary court orders and writ of possession to evict the trespassers.”

The team at mfg Solicitors specialise in urgent High Court possession proceedings to quickly obtain court orders and enable enforcement officers to take back possession of land and property.

For further advice on matters relating to removing of trespassers or squatters, you can email Kevin directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

mfg Solicitors has offices in Worcester, Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, the Black Country, Birmingham, Ludlow and Telford. Further information can be found on www.mfgsolicitors.com.