A PERMANENT solution to the problem of gipsies camping by the river at Ilkley seems as far away as ever despite a meeting to sort out the problem.

Bradford Council has denied being too lenient with the gipsies who arrive every summer around the time of the Appleby Horse Fair, leading to complaints of noise nuisance and rubbish.

But Ilkley District and Parish Councillor Anne Hawkesworth says that the local authority is not doing enough to solve the problem.

She wants the council's legal department to enact a by-law at the site banning overnight camping.

After the latest camp, Bradford Council workers have cleaned up the site on Denton Road. The owner of the land lives in the South of England and leases it to the Ilkley Angling Association.

She does not want it fencing off because that would prevent the pleasant riverside plot of land being used by the general public.

A petition of complaint signed by 17 residents who live on the opposite bank of the Wharfe was discussed by members of the public health and protection sub-committee.

As it is a privately owned site, obtaining an eviction order against the gipsies would involve a costly county court process.

Committee member, Martin Smith (Con), an Ilkley district councillor, said he would continue to explore the possibility of enacting a 'No overnight camping' byelaw on the site.

But in a report to the committee, council lawyers said it was not feasible to enact a one-off byelaw on the piece of land.

"It is also difficult to imagine how this would prevent unauthorised occupation of the land," says the report.

Coun Smith said that gipsy liaison officers had agreed to visit gipsies around the time of the Appleby Fair to tell them not to cause a nuisance.

"We should be able to instil responsibility in the community as a whole that they must take account of the permanent residents' environment," said Coun Smith.

He added: "I hope the action that has been taken will reduce the problem in the future."

The report says: "The council's policy in respect of the gipsy community embraces a fair, reasonable and compassionate approach to the needs of this minority group. The Gipsy Liaison Service is known to be fair but firm within the gipsy community."

Gipsy liason officers say that their policy has been successful in dealing with unauthorised encampments and the service aims to reduce nuisance from noise, burning and tipping of rubbish.

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