A STRONGER barricade put up to prevent travelling people from getting on to riverside land with lorries and caravans has been hailed a success.

Residents were delighted to see the Demesnes, a wide pasture by the Tees at Barnard Castle, had been kept clear of the campers and their horses.

More than 50 travelling families got on to the land when a barrier was broken earlier this month as they passed through on their way to Appleby horse fair, in Cumbria.

As soon as they departed, workmen from Teesdale District Council, which owns the land, moved in to add an extra metal bar and stronger padlocks to the barricade.

They also put in extra bollards beside it and changed the position of a five-barred gate to stop vehicles getting on to a nearby track.

Thework was intended to stop more travellers getting on to the Demesnes on their return from the fair.

Over the weekend, a number of travellers took their horses and caravans to the spot, but were forced to turn around and seek other parking places.

A number camped on wide roadside verges close to other villages, including Staindrop, Ingleton and Winston.

One woman living near the Demesnes said yesterday: "Full marks to the council. They did enough to deter the travelling folk and that is what we wanted. We felt that unless they were stopped now we would get more and more in future years."

The original barrier was put up five years ago after protests about the noise and dirt caused by dozens of families camping on the land, some with lorries loaded with scrap or road repairing equipment.

It kept the unwelcome visitors out until this month. Some claimed they had a traditional right to use the land. They said it was an ideal place for washing their horses in the river.