PEOPLE in Darlington who have been complaining about travellers staying illegally in a street have been reassured action will be taken.

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman said number of complaints had been received about travellers in John Dixon Lane.

He said residents complained of travelling families using bushes as lavatories, making excessive noise and discarding litter.

The travellers have been asked to move from various sites around the town by the council.

The spokesman said: "We will go through the same process we went through for Allington Way and McMullen Road. They are not supposed to be there and we will be going out to give them a warning. If that has no effect, we will be going through the legal process to have them evicted."

Inspector Sue Collingwood, of Darlington police, said three calls had been received about travellers in the Hundens Lane and John Dixon Lane area, two from the same man.

"Residents are not happy that we are not going up there and moving them on but we have to go through certain criteria," she said.

"The travelling community, rightly, have human rights as well."