Travellers camp at hospital site

Travellers set up camp at the city centre's derelict Clayton Hospital.

A caravan was parked at the site from May 19, but Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust which owns the buildings, says the travellers have now been moved on.

And on May 14, free-runners were spotted leaping from rooftops and climbing walls at the site off Northgate.

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The former hospital could be transformed into a £15m centre for sports and performing arts after Wakefield Grammar School Foundation agreed a deal to buy the site last year.

Iain Brodie, general manager of facilities at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ”We were aware that there were travellers on the site and these have since been moved on.

“As far as any free-runners or trespassers are concerned we are grateful for people bringing this to our attention, but we would urge anyone who comes across any intruders to report them to West Yorkshire Police.

“We do have regular security patrols at Clayton Hospital in place and work closely with West Yorkshire Police to ensure that the site remains secure.”

Clayton Hospital was founded in 1854.

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After 1948 it became part of the newly-formed National Health Service. NHS services were provided there until 2012, when the trust closed and boarded up the hospital.

Last Autumn, Wakefield Council threatened to take legal enforcement action if the health trust did not “sort out” the hospital.

And in November, a deal was agreed for Wakefield Grammar School Foundation (WGSF) to buy the site from the NHS Trust and the hospital was made secure. The sale will only go ahead if WGSF secures planning permission to regenerate the site.