A travellers camp has been set up on the official Pride campsite just a week before the festival is due to start.

Visitors to the town are due to camp on Waterhall playing fields in Patcham next Friday but at the moment the site is occupied by around 20 caravans.

A separate 13-caravan encampment has also been set up at the nearby 19 Acres site.

Local residents have expressed concern about the “summer invasion” of the travellers and associated problems with fly-tipping and said they are not convinced the site will be cleared by the time festival-goers arrive.

Mixed messages were given by Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council yesterday, with the police saying a site visit was to be carried out while the council said one had already been carried out on Wednesday.

Judith Manson, from Pride, said organisers were putting their "faith" in the authorities to clear the land.