Gipsies illegally camped at the former Transperience Discovery Park were moved off the site during a police operation today.

But as the travellers left in a convoy of vehicles and caravans, they said they intend to stay in Bradford.

And their presence in the city has prompted MP Gerry Sutcliffe to call a meeting with the council and police in a bid to solve the gipsy problem in Bradford.

Six police cars and two vans containing nine officers swooped on the 15 caravans parked at Transperience way, Low Moor at 8.30am.

Inspector Steven Baker of Odsal Police said the travellers - some who have been living there since December - understood that they had to move on - and he expected them to do so peacefully.

"We explained to the travellers they had to leave today. Many were on the brink of going anyway.

As they left, one traveller told the T&A: "Its not right we should not just be moved on. The police came early this morning and just banged on our caravans telling us we had to go.

"But we will still stay in Bradford because we have no where else to go."

Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe said he wants to meet with police and Bradford Council.

"It is an ongoing problem and police and the local authority do have guidelines on how to handle incidents like this," he said.

The MP said he had received calls from neighbours angry that gipsies were allowed to remain on a public road for so long and were demanding to know why the situation could not have been resolved faster.

"I have received complaints from residents who say they being passed from one body to another and they just want answers."

And Odsal Police announced today that it is hoping to launch a joint strategy with the Council to tackle the city's escalating gipsy problem.

Community Safety Officer Inspector Paul Jeffrey told the T&A that he would be seeking urgent talks with politicians, senior Council Staff and councillors.

He said: "It is not just a problem for Bradford - but nationwide."

The officer has been inundated with calls. One resident who asked not to be named said: "We are all cheering today, but it has been a stressful time for all of us.

"We have been intimidated by them and had to put up with a lot of mess including piles of human excrement, " she said.

Police presence was increased in the area, and officers were called in to unplug caravans which were illegally obtaining electricity from lampposts.

Yorkshire Electricity's Customer Operations Manager Andy Walden said: "We responded to a safety issue in that locality in the last couple of days.

David White of Ogden Properties Ltd who own the Transperience site said he was delighted the travellers were ejected.

"This situation has gone on for a number of weeks and I am glad its all over."

Just before Christmas the company secured an order to block off the road to prevent any more travellers entering onto their property, But they just drove around it.

"Now we aim to secure our site and hope we do not have to go through this ordeal again," he said.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.