MORE travellers' sites are needed across the York area to cater for all the families who want to stay here, a group has claimed.

York Travellers' Trust said there were 250 families wanting somewhere to stay in the city, but only 50 permanent pitches available.

A report by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has claimed an extra 500 acres of land is needed to cater for all the travellers across the country.

Christine Shepherd, trust co-ordinator at the York Travellers' Trust, said: "The commission consulted a number of travellers in this area before compiling the report. There does need to be an extra site in York.

"The local authority says there are only 13 people on its waiting list for a pitch - but our argument is that most pitches already have two families living on them.

"There is one woman who has been on the waiting list for ten years, and other families have been on it for three years.

"A lot of families are living in houses when this is not what they want to do.

"My argument is that if the council provided a transient site, where families could stay for shorter periods, it would save the taxpayer money in having them evicted from private land."

The Government has already estimated that 4,000 more pitches will be needed next year and has asked councils to look at setting up more sites.

The Department of Communities and Local Government admitted: "The CRE is right that we need to address this to prevent serious community tensions."

A York council spokeswoman said there were three travellers' sites in the city and about 13 people waiting.

She said: "Together with other local authorities in the North Yorkshire sub-region, we are carrying out an analysis of need based on guidance recently released by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

"Future provision for travellers in York and North Yorkshire will be guided by the findings. This will take into account a number of factors, including the need to reduce illegal encampments."

Richard Etherington, housing services manager for Ryedale, said councils in North Yorkshire were hoping to work together to investigate the needs of travellers, to avoid duplicating places for families which moved from one authority area to another.

Ryedale, which currently has one permanent site at Malton with 12 pitches, is also assessing travellers' needs as part of its individual housing survey.

A spokesman for Selby council said there were two permanent sites in its area, which were run by North Yorkshire County Council and managed by a third party, but it had no current plans to provide more.

Sally Burns, head of housing and public protection at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said it had three permanent sites and had applied to the Government for funding for repairs and improvements.

She added: "We are embarking on a housing needs survey and that will involve looking at the needs of travellers' families."

Updated: 10:04 Wednesday, May 17, 2006