Residents in traveller dispute

Travellers have set up home on theTingley football pitch

Residents in a West Yorkshire community are angry that travellers have been allowed to stay on a football pitch for another two months.

The group arrived in Tingley in May but a decision on their future has been postponed until October for a third judge to consider.

Councillors claim they have been inundated with complaints by residents.

The move means the travellers have been able to stay at the pitch on Spinkwell Lane for five months.

Leeds city councillor for Ardsley and Robin Hood, Lisa Mulherin said rubbish had been strewn across the pitch and residents reported travellers using the surrounding fields as toilets.

"It seems that the court is taking plenty of time to consider the human rights of the travelling community but what of the human rights of the tax paying local residents who live alongside?"

Football teams have been unable to use the pitch since the travellers moved on and councillors say the damage to the surface is so extensive, it could be December before footballers can use it again.