Temporary reprieve for Gypsy site

The Gypsies have set up home on the site

Gypsies who are living on land they bought in North Wiltshire have been granted temporary permission to stay.

The group bought the three-acre site at Minety in August 2003, digging trenches for power cables and water pipes.

A public inquiry was held in February after complaints that the changes were made without planning permission.

A government inspector recommended giving them permanent permission, but Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has given them 18 months.

A spokesman for North Wiltshire district council said the authority was studying the judgement for the full implications.

Verina Hyland of the Minety Action Group told the BBC: "It's just a decision not to make a decision.

"It's just political correctness gone mad. A small group can come in and tell us what they can do and we say 'we can't do it and so neither can you'."