TRAVELLERS have once again left a trail of filth and rubbish behind them after an eight-month stay on a site in Petersfield.

Televisions, bicycles and bags of waste have been left all over the site, off Bedford Road.

Waste has even been piled up in the railway culvert and thrown over fences.

And as Petersfield begins to count the cost of the latest traveller invasion, East Hampshire District Council has announced that the total clean-up bill for its own land this year has already reached £13,000.

Councillors were told on Tuesday night that there was no specific budget for dealing with travellers. Investigation and enforcement work was done by existing staff and the clean-up operation was paid for out of existing budgets.

But these figures do not include the huge costs met by Petersfield Town Council, East Hampshire parishes and private land owners who have faced their own bills for the clear-up of their own sites.

Travellers finally left the Bedford Road site on Saturday, after a two-month battle by land owners Merivale Moore.

The property company, which is based in London, was asked to serve notice on the travellers after tenants and East Hampshire District Council alerted it to the camp.

Jeff Hobby, of Merivale Moore, said that the whole process has taken two months and will have cost the company thousands of pounds.

He said: ÒIt is a pain and it is expensive. It is also damaging to local trade and commerce.Ó

A local resident, who did not want to be named, said that he was incensed by the mess that the travellers have left.

He said: ÒIf we gave them an authorised site they would have toilets, running water and refuse facilities, but they have had these facilities for free in Bedford Road and they have not used them and have left the site in an appalling condition.

ÒAll the rubbish they left was less than 100 yards from the recycling centre.

ÒThe stench down there on Sunday was appalling.Ó

But the travellers caused no trouble for Dave Turrell, manager of the recycling centre in Bedford Road, and even helped him watch out for vandals.

Mr Turrell said: ÒThey did me a favour stopping people climbing over and causing damage in the yard.

ÒI found that if I treated them fairly, they treated me fairly.Ó

East Hampshire District Council has produced a ÒCode of ConductÓ that will be handed out to all travellers in the area regardless of whose land they are on.

But EHDC did not issue it to those encamped on the Bedford Road site because the land owner was dealing with the issue.

The code recognises that travellers have a right to live a nomadic lifestyle but states that any nuisance or harm will not be tolerated and any breach of the code will result in eviction action, but the council admits that it cannot extend this cover to land it is not responsible for.

In August, town councillor John Crowhurst called for a permanent travellersÕ site to be established in the area to take full advantage of proposed new legislation.

If the TravellersÕ Law Reform Bill is passed it will give police greater powers to evict travellers from illegal campsites if an authorised alternative is available.

Mr Crowhurst suggested a site adjacent to the A3 on the old Portsmouth Road, at Butser Hill, would be an ideal location.

He also raised fears over another ten sites in Petersfield that he felt could be targeted by travellers.

West Sussex County Council, which already has 12 authorised campsites for travellers, is currently consulting residents on its proposed ÔStrategy for Gypsies and TravellersÕ .