Residents in a rural oasis say unofficial campsites are making their lives a misery.

Travellers are setting up satellite camps close to the official Brighton and Hove City Council site in Horsdean.

Nine households in Braypool Lane, between the A23 and the Brighton bypass, say they are trapped and have attacked council officials for allowing it to continue.

Anne Beal, 55, who has lived in the area for more than six years, said: "We feel hemmed in by travellers.

"We have them to the south, east and west of our homes. We feel threatened. We did not buy our houses here to find ourselves surrounded by travellers.

"We are angry Brighton and Hove City Council has allowed this to happen and when we complain we just get fobbed off.

"We were told the gypsies at the top of the lane were due to be moved on soon but now they seem to be making it a permanent site."

Residents say they warned the council the satellite camps would erupt after the go-ahead was given to create the official Horsdean site.

Residents of nearby Patcham have also complained of overspill camps in the past in Preston Park and Patcham Court Farm.

A group of travellers moved on to a council-owned field at the top of Braypool Lane earlier this summer.

Two of the families have since made the site permanent by putting down hardcore and creating a separate entrance.

Residents say there are now piles of rubbish in the lane, soiled nappies in the hedges and a smell of sewage.

To the west, travellers have illegally camped on land owned by Southern Water and to the east is the official Horsdean site.

Ken Clay, 51, whose family has lived in the area for ten years, said: "We had a meeting with the council when they created the official site at Horsdean.

"I expressed fears about the overspill and was told they would only be allowed on the Horsdean site.

"We agreed to tolerate the Horsdean site but things have now got out of hand. The gypsies at the top of the lane are creating their own permanent site with the council's blessing."

Marketing manager Sue Frost said: "We are paying £100 a month council tax to live here and I just can't see what we are getting for that money.

"Our rubbish has not been collected for two weeks, travellers and gypsies are using the hedges as toilets and the lane is becoming an unofficial rubbish tip."

One of the travellers at the unofficial site in Braypool Lane confirmed they had no plans to leave and had been given permission to stay by the city council.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The land at Waterhall is owned by Southern Water and they are taking legal action to get the travellers off the land.

"We have given permission for the families to stay at the land at the top of Braypool Lane and are tolerating them because they are an established local gypsy family and have recently suffered a bereavement.

"Travellers are encouraged to stay at the official site."