Wychavon District Council is dragging its heels over a group of gipsies who have been occupying a layby in Cropthorne - according to residents.

A site off the Pershore to Evesham Road, has been occupied by two caravans since early November.

Residents of the six houses for which the layby is a service road are angry at a lack of urgency by the council as well as a lack of communication from officers and councillors.

"It is my belief that Wychavon District Council is failing in its responsibility to protect the rights of the community it represents," said Tony Davis, one of the residents affected.

Mr Davis says there has been no communication from the council about the problem and he has not been told whether Wychavon has offered the gipsies an alternative site which would legally oblige them to accept.

But district councillor Malcolm Meikle said offering the gipsies a permanent site was exactly what the county council was trying to avoid.

"If you look at what happened at Eckington, hardstanding was put down and now you have what is a semi-derelict site left over," he said. "Offering them a permanent facility would have been a direct contravention of the court order the county council has obtained."

Mr Davis also says he has not been told if any attempt has been made to remove the settlers on nuisance grounds such as the noise of the gipsies' generator and an aggressive dog he claims prevents use of the footpath.

Mr Davis says the generator has disturbed sleep patterns to the extent of causing health problems for residents, has affected property values and hit trade at the neighbouring New Inn pub.

Andrew Boreham, landlord of The New Inn, said: "It's a service road that should be used for other things than travellers. There are about three houses that directly overlook the caravans and I know those guys think it's an eyesore."

Mr Davis and his neighbours have even said they would be willing to buy the service road to avoid gipsies settling there in the future and have spoken with the county council's highways department.

Sally Everest, highways partnership manager for Wychavon, said: "It will be difficult for us to declare the service road surplus to highways requirements because it is used for things like refuse carts and coaches for schoolchildren and we wouldn't want to lose that facility.

"There may also be utilities in the verge which would mean the utility services having an interest in the land. I need to go through our legal section to see if it would be at all possible to sell off the layby. It might be possible and I wouldn't rule it out."