Residents have been asked to wait before condemning ditches dug to keep travellers off open land.

Council workers have dug trenches around green space in Melrose Drive and Tintern Road, St Helen Auckland, where travellers have set up illegal camps in the past.

Residents complained about the ditches yesterday, saying they were unsightly and could be dangerous if they filled with water.

They said children were picking out stones and throwing them at windows and doors.

One Melrose Drive resident said: "It is an eyesore. It will fill with water and a child could fall in. Everybody is up in arms."

Another resident said: "If it is there to keep the travellers off, we will just have to put up with it. It is a mess."

Councillor Margaret Douthwaite, who represents the area on Wear Valley District Council, said: "We hope people will bear with us and wait until it has been stone-picked and seeded.

"It is there to keep travellers off and we had to do it quickly because the travelling season is nearly here. We have tried this in Darlington Road, West Auckland, where it has worked very well and we are sure it will be just as effective here."