Traveller site plans are unveiled

Travellers and Gypsies could soon be given a permanent site in Brighton.

Brighton and Hove City Council decided to submit planning permission for a site in Sheepcote Valley at a meeting on Thursday evening.

Residents opposed to the proposals have said the area is important for wildlife and dog walkers and should be left untouched.

The council has promised to hold a public consultation over the plans.

If the planning application is given the go-ahead the traveller site will be located at a former BMX track off Wilson Avenue to the east of the city.

Brighton and Hove City Council said the site would accommodate 14 pitches and the running cost would be covered by rents paid by its occupants.

The authority said part of the site had already been used as a "tolerated/emergency" stopping place for Gypsies and travellers for some time.