TOUGH new anti-traveller proposals put forward by the Conservative Party were today slammed by both travellers' advocates and those who claim to have suffered as a result of illegal camping.

Exclusion zones of up to 50 miles could be imposed on travellers evicted from illegal camp sites and they would lose income support if they failed to obey an eviction order under the changes put forward this week by the Tories.

A fast-track, one-stop legal procedure to speed up evictions would be introduced, and police and councils would be encouraged to clamp down on untaxed vehicles, trespass and unleashed dogs.

But Julian Pheby, trustee of the York Travellers' Trust, condemned the proposals as "draconian" and said they were merely a regurgitation of past Tory ideas.

"We think the existing legislation is oppressive enough as it is without the need for further measures," he said. "These ideas are counterproductive and would only shunt the problem from one area to another."

The Tory proposals were also dismissed as ineffective by York businessman Malcolm Harrison, who claims the presence of travellers on land next to his Clifton Moor-based company has ruined his health and his business.

"This move wouldn't make any difference at all. The problem will just move from one place to another," he said.

"They need land designated specifically for them."

Ryedale District Council is one authority which has faced problems with travellers in the past.

Even so, Labour councillor Gary Hobbs strongly disagreed with the Conservatives proposals: "Personally I am always concerned at the hysteria that many people feel at the very moment they hear the word 'gypsy'. Just because people have a different way of life does not make them criminals."

Coun Keith Orrell, Ryedale parliamentary spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, was not convinced of the necessity of all the measures.

"Travellers who are breaking the law should be treated the same way as other people," he said. "I would be concerned if the law was being fast tracked as that leads to possible inconsistencies."

Shadow Environment Secretary Archie Norman said: "Conservatives reject the views of the politically-correct liberal elite that a blind eye should be turned to minor crimes by many travellers just because of their alternative lifestyle."