police to crack down on the "minority" of travellers who cause trouble in Worcestershire, according to MP Mike Foster

Tough new measures are included in the Government's Anti Social Behaviour Bill, which is expected to become law in the autumn.

Worcester's Labour MP said that, under the existing law, police had very limited powers to prevent damage to land and property.

The changes would give the police the right to arrest travellers who refused to leave private land for a local authority run site.

The Bill would also prevent travellers moving a few hundred yards to another private site so the legal process of evicting them had to start again.

Powers

Under the new powers, travellers would be unable to trespass on any other land with the local authority area for a period of three months.

Mr Foster said it would prevent the abuse of the law, which saw trespassers "hedge-hopping" to avoid legal action.

"Costs faced by local authorities, who have had to apply for court orders in the past, will be saved," he said.

"Local taxpayers will no longer face the burden of paying to remove trespassers and then pay again to clean up the mess some leave behind.

"I hope these measures encourage travellers to use authorised and regulated sites and not trespass. In turn, this should reduce the misery caused by a minority of trespassers."

Mr Foster stressed that only a minority of travellers were responsible for anti-social behaviour, but they caused distress to local communities, particularly during the summer in places like Worcestershire.