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Dozens of traveller caravans were pitched in Mid Sussex this summer – but none of them were on unauthorised sites, figures show.

By Joanna Morris, Data Reporter

New legislation could threaten the nomadic traditions of Gypsies and traveller communities by criminalising unauthorised encampments, the Friends, Families and Travellers charity warned, as it called the proposed measures ‘draconian’.

Currently passing through Parliament, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would see police given greater powers to tackle such encampments, including the right to seize vehicles and impose heavy fines on those trespassing ‘with intent to reside’’.

Figures show that dozens of traveller caravans were pitched in Mid Sussex over summer but none were on unauthorised sites.

In July, there were spaces for 26 caravans at local authority and privately owned sites in Mid Sussex, according to the Government’s latest traveller caravan count.

Data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities shows there were 31 traveller caravans in the area in July – unchanged from July 2019, when the last summer count took place.

Of those counted this year, none were on unauthorised pitches.

Across England, 21,000 traveller caravans were on approved pitches at the first count since the coronavirus pandemic began – almost 90 per cent of those counted.

Dozens of traveller caravans pitched on Mid Sussex sites