A group of gypsies who had been camping in Ilkley during the past week have apparently left the town.

And the news comes as a relief to organisers of a prestigious tennis competition who had feared the presence of the travelling families on their site could cause major disruption to the £10,000 tournament.

The gypsy group had originally set up camp on land next to Ilkley Lido, but decided to move on Sunday after a concert at the venue on Saturday evening is believed to have disturbed them. They switched their camp to land at the Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club on Sunday evening – the same day as the tournament began.

The week-long £10,000 JM Glendinning Group Ilkley International Tournament features some of the country’s top men’s players as well as competitors from across the world including entries from the United States, Australia, Sweden, France and New Zealand.

But at about 7pm on Sunday, a group of gypsies with a total of 13 caravans moved on to the site and had taken up an area of the grass car park.

Organisers were concerned after they said they had seen youngsters on their grass courts, while others were spotted racing motorcycles and quad bikes around the site.

They also felt their hands were tied, after being advised by police there was little that could be done unless the gypsies committed an offence.

The club’s general manager, Nicole Demot, said security had been stepped up at the event, particularly overnight.

“They know their rights,” she said. “The police arrived and were very helpful but can’t do a thing.”

She admitted another big worry was the lack of sanitation facilities and clean drinking water and the chance it would put competitors and spectators off the event and leave a big clean-up operation.

However, those fears were allayed when the gypsies revealed they would be leaving the site on Tuesday evening, and yesterday morning they had gone, with very little rubbish or sign of their presence remaining.

The tournament continues until Saturday, while the area left by the gypsies will be used by pupils from the nearby All Saints Primary School to host a sports day before the end of the week.