NEWPORT councillors were due to visit two permanent gipsy camps in Cardiff today to see if something similar could be built in Newport.

The councillors' visit to the Shirenewton and Tremorfa sites comes after the council pledged to rethink its approach to travellers.

Councillor Erryl Heath, head of scrutiny for public affairs, said: "Minority groups must be taken into consideration and at some stage we have to consider whether we can provide permanent accommodation for these people.

"This is a fact-finding trip which allows us to see what Cardiff has done."

The new approach came after last year's summer of problems with gipsies setting up camp on the outskirts of Newport, particularly in Marsh-field and Spytty.

In July, a team of gipsies camped on the Tredegar House site just weeks before the Eisteddfod opened, before threatening to occupy a car park.

The council has looked to its neighbours in Cardiff for advice.

The Rover Way, Tremorfa, site in Cardiff has 21 pitches and was built in the 1960s.

Shirenewton, a former caravan site taken over by the council in the 1980s, holds 56 pitches.

Both sites are full. Rent is around 30 a week, and there are waiting lists.

Bristol council has backed plans for an 800,000 permanent site for 12 caravans, and it is looking to raise 600,000. It said their other provisions have drastically cut eviction costs of travellers.

Evictions and clear-ups cost Newport council thousands of pounds last summer.

An eviction costs up to 1,000 and clearance costs at East Bank Road and Coedkernew cost 5,800 and 2,012 respectively.

Fly-tipped mess at Marshfield, not all of it from gipsies, cost 40,000.