GIPSIES have set up camp in Newport just months after it cost thousands of pounds to clear up after another group were evicted from a nearby site.

Nearly 30 caravans are parked on council-owned land near the LG site, Marshfield, after a barrier to the area was smashed down.

At the end of last week their owners were served a notice giving them 28 days to leave. Residents have complained about the illegal camp but one of the gipsies said they had nowhere to go.

Marshfield councillor Bill Pursey said worried local people had been contacting him.

"Last time we had about 14 caravans and now roughly 28 so it has doubled in size."

Last July, we reported how the council faced a £100,000 bill for clearing the "health hazard" left behind by a group of gipsies after they were evicted from the LG site.

They then moved to the Newport"s Tredegar Huse - just three weeks before the National Eisteddfod was due to begin. From there they went to Coedkernew where they remained until late August.

Since then the council has been looking at the possibility of building a permanent site for travellers. It could cost £800,000 to build but could save the authority thousands in eviction costs.

However, Councillor Pursey did not think a permanent site was the answer. "It is three-quarters of a million pounds when we are making cutbacks in other ways, such as services for the elderly, and the road conditions in the area are abominable."

One of the gipsies, Jimmy Riley, spoke to the Argus as he drove out of the site on Saturday morning. He said they had been there for a few days after being put off land they owned in Basildon, Essex. "We have nowhere else to go."

He said the children had been going to school in Surrey but now they were receiving no education. "If we buy land how are we going to get planning permission? If we go about it legally they don"t want us and they won"t give us a site."

Councillor Pursey said he did have some sympathy with them - up to a point. "But you can"t allow your heart to rule your brain and it"s not going to do Newport any good."