A permanent home for traveller and gypsy families is to be created in Brighton for the first time.

Up to 20 pitches could be made available on council land, believed to be the BMX site in Sheepcote Valley.

Brighton and Hove City Council confirmed it was investigating a number of different sites and said it had yet to make a final decision.

For the first time, the housing needs of gypsies and travellers have been included in the planning blueprint for the South East.

The number of pitches will need to more than double in the next eight years across Sussex to meet these requirements.

The South East England Regional Assembly (Seera) will be consulting people on the options. In Brighton and Hove there is currently one transit site, in Horsdean, near Patcham, which has 23 pitches.

The city will need to find space for as many as 20 new, permanent pitches, according to the plan.

The council said creating a permanent home for gypsies and travellers would cut the costs of clean-up operations from unauthorised encampments.

According to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, £850,000 has been spent in the past three years on removing rubbish from illegal encampments and cleaning Horsdean.

The number of court cases to evict travellers has increased each year, from seven in 2004 up to 24 last year.

Stanmer Park, Wild Park and Sheepcote Valley have regularly been used by travellers.

Chris Whitwell, director of Brighton-based Friends, Families and Travellers, said: "We welcome any local authority which is seeking to meet the need in the area.

"The problem is there is discrimination and racism against gypsies and travellers. People will always object when a site is proposed."

Neighbours of the earmarked site have been distributing letters urging people to object to the proposals.

Lynn Bird, secretary of the Friends of Sheepcote Valley, said: "We have been promised that nothing would go there.

"People are fed up with Sheepcote being used for anything the council cannot put elsewhere."

A council spokeswoman said: "Any occupants of the permanent site would be expected to pay a fair rent in order to ensure that the maintenance and upkeep of the site does not cause cost to the local tax payers."

A special meeting will be held to decide on an appropriate site and planning permission will then be sought.

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