TRAVELLERS heading to this weekend's Appleby Fair have set up an illegal camp at the only entrance to a Teesdale housing estate.

Police say they are powerless to move them on from Startforth Park, Startforth, near Barnard Castle, because the camp is on land owned by the Ministry of Justice, which operates nearby Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution (YOI).

Furious residents say the camp has turned the area into virtual no-go zone and although the travellers are expected to move on imminently, they fear the problem could be repeated on the return journey from Appleby.

Startforth Park Residents Association treasurer Trevor Goodge said travellers had set up camp in the area in previous years, but there was a much larger presence this time – possibly due to a no-waiting order being enforced on Bridgegate, Barnard Castle, and along Deerbolt Bank .

“It is a much bigger encampment, there is more mess and it is causing access problems because this is the only way in and out of the estate," he said.

“There were very few kids out playing over the weekend – they were scared to go out.”

He said other residents were choosing to use an alternative public footpath to leave and return to the estate because they felt intimidated by the travellers' presence.

Mr Goodge said residents could not understand why the operators of Deerbolt YOI would allow travellers onto their land – especially as there were five official temporary stopover sites elsewhere in Teesdale.

Sergeant Simon Rogers, of Barnard Castle Police, said Deerbolt YOI officials had declined requests to implement measures to keep travellers off their land.

The prison had also refused requests to set up a temporary 'area of acceptance' for travellers on the grassed area at the front of the institution and away from residents's homes in Startforth Park.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We have made it clear to these individuals that they are illegally camping on prison land.

“The council and police have been informed and we are working together to get the land vacated.”

The illegal camp at Startforth will be discussed at a special Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting on Tuesday, June 4.

The meeting will be held at Woodleigh, Flatts Road, Barnard Castle, starting at 7pm. Inspector Kevin Tuck and Sgt Rogers will both attend.