TRAVELLERS facing eviction from an illegal camp said today: "We are bringing money into Shoreham."

Adur District Council has started legal action to evict the travellers from Ropetackle, a site off the Old Shoreham Road, bordering the River Adur.

Householders living nearby say the travellers, who number up to 200, are making their lives a misery.

They claim there are noisy weekend raves and they are intimidated by anti-social behaviour and dozens of dogs roaming free.

The council was also criticised for failing to evict them sooner.

One 48-year-old resident said: "It's the loud music at all sorts of hours which bugs me. You get dogs roaming free and scrap cars all over the place.

"Their kids urinate in the park where ours are playing."

But traveller Sarah Dolan, 29, said: "We are bringing money into Shoreham. We support all the local businesses. It's just a different lifestyle we have."

Ollie, 29, said: "If people want to slag us off they should come down and see us first.

"They think we sponge but most of us are quite happy to pay a bit of rent. Travelling is a way of life. I own my own home. A lot of people living in houses can't say that."

The council recently gave the travellers seven days to remove their tightly-packed caravans but only a few moved out.

Now it may take up to a year through the courts to have them removed.

Adur wants the site cleared so it can be bought by the South-East of England Development Agency for redevelopment into homes, including social housing, small businesses and community facilities.

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