GREEN belt land, a former school, an old hospital and a farm are among sites earmarked as potential new homes for gipsies and travellers in the north of Worcestershire.

In total seven sites have been shortlisted from a possible 15 by Wyre Forest District Council’s cabinet.

The shortlist, agreed on Tuesday night, includes green belt sites in Stourport Road in Bewdley, the former Sion Hill School site in Kidderminster and the Lea Castle Hospital site, Cookley.

Stourport was dealt the majority of sites, with three being “tolerated” gipsy and traveller sites in Gables Yard, Saiwen, and land next to Nunn’s corner.

Those are plots where residential caravans already exist, without them being official gipsy and traveller sites.

A farm labelled “redundant” in St John’s Road and Minster Road was also shortlisted but the tenants, who have lived and worked there for 55 years, are disputing it is redundant.

The list has left some residents furious, with an action group vowing to fight “tooth and nail” against the former Sion Hill School becoming a gipsy and traveller site.

Sarah Rook, chairman of Broadwaters Residents Action Group (BRAG) said she was “horrified” that the former school site had been shortlisted. She said: “We will be working closely with local councils and will hold campaign meetings, start a petition and lobby our MP.”

On Monday hundreds of people packed into the council’s special overview and scrutiny committee meeting at Stourport Civic Hall, only to be told they could not have their say and that cabinet would decide which sites would go forward for consultation.

Independent Community and Health Concern (ICHC) councillor Dixon Sheppard suggested Stourport had been “stitched up”.

“We have a situation at Sandy Lane Industrial Estate where businesses are trying to exist alongside the travellers and it’s not easy. I know we’ve got to accommodate the gipsies and travellers but in the name of fairness why should they all basically be allocated to Stourport?” he said.

Labour district councillor Adrian Sewell said he thought the Sion Hill site was “a done deal”. He said: “I wanted all 15 sites to go to public consulation and I felt well and truly stitched up. They’ve done it down electoral lines rather than what’s suitable.”

Council leader, Conservative John Campion, said: “It is not the case that Stourport is being given a hard deal. There are already established gispy and traveller communities there and when we consulted with them they expressed a wish to stay in their communities.”

He said the original list of 15 had to be whittled down to avoid wasting public re-sources and he denied the selection was politically motivated, saying that five are in Conservative wards.