TRAVELLERS parked in a Teesdale village for the past few weeks should be gone by the weekend, Durham County Council said yesterday.

Up to 30 caravans have been parked beside the A67 at Winston, near Barnard Castle, since the Appleby Horse Fair, early last month.

Numbers had dropped by the time Durham County Council set a deadline for their departure last weekend, but some vans were still there this week.

A council spokesman said: "They were expected to have moved on by last weekend, but arrangements they had made about a new camp- site fell through and we delayed instigating formal arrangements to seek their departure to allow them to make alternative plans.

"However, if they have not gone by the weekend, we will then instigate those formal arrangements."

Following a record number of travellers' camps in Teesdale this year, the county and district councils are due to meet police this month to discuss how to manage them better next year.

The spokesman said: "Our discussions will involve identifying suitable areas where the travellers can stop and what sort of support we can provide for them such as portable toilet facilities, rubbish skips and drinking water supplied.

"We hope that the discussions we are due to have this month will create a situation next year where these temporary encampments can take place without causing any difficulties or problems for either the local residents or the travellers."