GROUPS of travellers have been suddenly arriving and setting up unauthorised camps on patches of land across East Lancashire for many years.

If they appear within sight of houses, local residents are usually swift and vocal in their objections to what they are likely to see as an unwanted invasion.

In recent months, the number of such incidents seems to have increased.

Yesterday, for example, 40 caravans which were moved off a football pitch behind Haslingden Leisure Centre turned up next to a community centre in Green Lane, Blackburn, while at the same time another group was being moved off Hodge House playing fields in Nelson.

Travellers say they have no option but to move on to such places because there are not enough sites to cater for their lifestyle, and the few official sites that do exist are full up.

The problem is that while travellers should be allowed to live the way they want, it should not adversely affect other people.

More sites are clearly the answer, plus stricter penalties for those who don’t use them.

Until we get them, this issue won’t go away.