A COUNCIL has pledged to take action to move on travellers who have set up camp in a Darlington park.

Caravans and a number of other vehicles arrived at South Park on Tuesday night - to the anger of nearby residents.

Yesterday, Darlington Borough Council said officers had visited the site and told the travellers to leave the land, on the Grange Road side of the park.

If they have not done so by Monday, the council will apply for a summons from magistrates.

A council spokeswoman said of the travellers: "We are in discussions with them and they have been told they must leave."

A resident of Lakeside, near South Park, said the encampment had blighted the area.

He said: "I think we need to put some pressure on the council to some kind of barrier at the entrance to the common so they can't get down there."

Meanwhile, a dedicated travellers' site in town is to be given a £468,000 makeover.

The Department of the Environment has awarded the cash to the borough council to build 11 extra family pitches and a toilet block at the Honeypot lane site.

A Darlington council spokeswoman said the 11 extra pitches were needed to cope with extra arrivals during the summer months.

The grant is one of 42 from an £8m fund to stop illegal encampments by increasing the number of official gipsy and travellers' sites.

Each grant covers 75 per cent of the refurbishment costs, with councils expected to make up the remaining 25 per cent.

Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper said any improvements to official sites must go "hand-in-hand" with tougher enforcement on illegal sites.

She said: "The vast majority of gipsy and traveller caravans are on long-standing authorised sites which work effectively.

"However, the shortage of sites has increased since the law changed in 1994 and there are now far too many unauthorised sites, which can cause real problems and stress for local communities.

"That is why we need more appropriate sites and better enforcement on inappropriate sites."

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister introduced new planning guidelines earlier this year requiring councils to identify land suitable for gipsies and travellers in local plans.

Since March, councils have also been armed with temporary stop notices to prevent travellers moving caravans on to sites without permission.

A new gipsy and traveller unit has been set up by the department to assist councils in the use of enforcement powers against illegal encampments and anti-social behaviour.