EFFORTS are under way to evict 100 gipsies who invaded a caravan site, after they were accused of assault, arson and criminal damage.

Six travelling families were forced off the land by the gipsies, who had arrived on Teesside to attend the funeral of a man who died in police custody.

It is alleged that some of the 100 gipsies in 30 caravans who took over the gipsy site in South Bank, Middlesbrough, assaulted workmen, stole equipment and have been involved in arson and criminal damage.

The six families previously living on the site have been moved to Warrenby, near Redcar - a site Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council closed to gipsies last year.

A spokesman for WCL Construction, which had been contracted to complete electrical work on the South Bank site, confirmed workmen had been forced to leave following the influx.

Legal staff at the council were yesterday compiling a case to put before a Teesside Crown Court judge demanding the right to carry out immediate eviction.

Councillor David Walsh, leader of the council, said: "The six families are long-term residents of ours, we have got to defend them. If anyone else arrives in Warrenby, we will take immediate action against them."

However, chief superintendent Adrian Roberts criticised the council yesterday.

He said: "We are surprised that the local authority has chosen to air their views in the public way they have, given that only on Thursday night, there were direct and constructive discussions between the council chief executive and the police district commander.

"The police have a duty to ensure that all their actions in such a sensitive area are both proportionate and reasonable, with due consideration to the impact on the whole community."

He confirmed that there were powers to intervene, but said such powers were discretionary.

One traveller at South Bank said the site was designated for gipsies and that they had a right to be there.

It is believed they arrived for the funeral of Patrick Lowther.

Mr Lowther, of Cornfield Road, Stockton, died in North Yorkshire Police custody. He had been arrested on suspicion of drink driving but collapsed shortly afterwards, dying eight weeks later.

Police are investigating the death, although a post mortem examination suggests he died of pneumonia.

* POLICE are treating a caravan fire as arson.

Cleveland police's arson investigation unit is looking into the blaze, which gutted the trailer used as an office at a South Bank scrapyard.

The burnt out caravan had been parked between the scrapyard and the South Bank gipsy site.