A SOLUTION appeared to be in sight yesterday, Wednesday, for a group of travellers squatting property around North Herefordshire who say they are desperate for an authorised site.

Herefordshire council looked set to earmark a site within days. But business owners fearful of further 'invasions' were planning to go ahead with a protest meeting at Leominster's Lion Ballroom on Saturday evening at 7pm.

The event is to be jointly chaired by Leominster MP Bill Wiggin and Robin James, owner of a specialist engineering firm.

The move follows the recent occupation of sites by travellers in and around Leominster. Extensive damage has been caused at some.

One of the latest squats took place at The Queenswood Garden Centre.

Staff locked the gates after managing director Tony Milne was told a convoy of vehicles and caravans were heading his way.

Mr Milne said three men got out of a van and lifted the gates from their hinges. Vehicles drove in scattering members of staff. The travellers stayed overnight on the overflow car park and the firm spent almost £1,500 arranging for bailiffs to move them on. The centre lost a huge amount of custom and was left with 'squalor' said Mr Milne. "I find it obscene that we can be subjected to this," he added.

Factory owners at the Southern Avenue estate this week continued to take extraordinary measures to keep travellers out in a scenario they described as 'Fortress Leominster'.

One firm was using a forklift to dump six tonnes of concrete blocks to barricade a road each evening. Others were using trucks and trailers to block entrances. A driver in a lorry acted as a watchman at one factory ready to use his truck as a 'gate'.

Herefordshire Travellers' Support Group, which has worked for many years, with some success, to help the gypsy community has faced its most daunting task yet.

One member, Peter Baines, has been trying to provide a link between the travellers and the authorities and has attended a series of meetings with police, councillors and officials.

Said Mr Baines: "Everyone is working together. We are hoping for a satisfactory outcome for all concerned."