A clean-up operation to remove rubbish left by Travellers at a site in Burgess Hill is set to cost thousands of pounds.

Refuse and cars dumped on a series of sites need to be removed and the land secured to prevent further occupation.

Police moved ten caravans from the bottom of Malthouse Lane and council workers have been left to pick up the mess.

Four cars were smashed and dumped, with one rolled into a stream, and nearby fields were strewn with bags of household rubbish.

A resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "We would not have such a problem if they did not leave the place such a mess. Why can't they take their rubbish with them?"

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said it had inspected the stream for pollution.

Mid Sussex District Council has also been working on a site in Leylands Road, Burgess Hill, where up to 45 caravans were parked for weeks.

A spokeswoman said: "We have had to hire specialist contractors to deal with certain elements left on the site.

"We gave the travellers black sacks to bag up all their rubbish but they didn't use them."

The council is involved in another clean-up operation at a car park in Cyprus Road, Burgess Hill, where travellers had been living.

Police have served an eviction notice on travellers at a site in Imberhorne Lane, East Grinstead, which will also need attention.

A spokeswoman for the Friends, Families and Travellers Advice and Information Unit, based in Brighton, said: "The reason travellers stop in inappropriate places is because there are not enough official sites in West Sussex.

"The Adversane site, near Billingshurst, which was closed in 2000, is still closed and I would urge the local authority to reopen it.

"Then travellers would have access to basic facilities such as running water and refuse collection, which would help to alleviate the problems we are experiencing at the moment."

Anyone who thinks a waterway may have been polluted by dumping can contact the Environment Agency in confidence on 0800 807060.