LET'S play cat and mouse - a fast-paced game that will leave residents infuriated, councils out-of-pocket and travellers looking for a new home.

All you need to play is a spare piece of land, a couple of dozen caravans and a county court order.

Try your luck at predicting where and when travellers are likely to arrive and test your diplomatic skills with nearby residents.

The winner is the person who can negotiate the earliest possible departure date without spending a fortune in court costs and a subsequent clean-up campaign.

Sound familiar? It should do - it's a game that residents of Dorset have been watching unfold for the last few years. But now more and more people are calling for a new set of rules.

Whether it's travellers enjoying a merry Christmas at the local taxpayers' expense in King's Park in 2001 or their recent summer tour around Christchurch, it's a topic that is rarely out of the headlines.

In Bournemouth, the council normally deals with around 15 incursions a year, though thankfully nothing on the scale of King's Park 2001.

Back then, the unexpected arrival of 3,000 travellers on Christmas Eve left the council with a £50,000 cleaning bill, policing costs of £40,000 and thousands of pounds worth of damage to neighbouring bowling greens and sports pitches.

But since then, smaller groups of travellers have settled and been moved on from Hurn, Stour Meadows, Bear Cross, Richmond Hill car park, King's Park, Christchurch, Fleetsbridge, Creekmoor, Redhill Common, Throop and Castle Lane - to name just a few.

Aboricultural officer Paul Pitkin, who deals with travellers on behalf of Bournemouth council, said the constant merry-go-round is unsurprising when you consider the lack of official sites.

"It's estimated that at any one time, there's around 36,000 people travelling around the country - there are public placements for 12,000," he said.

"That's two-thirds more travellers than places available. You can ask why Bournemouth doesn't have a transit or permanent site but the town is bordered by the sea on one side and by Poole, Christchurch and the River Stour on the others.

"It's a very enclosed borough and of course, nimbyism does play a certain part.

"Nobody wants a traveller site on their doorstep."

Christchurch council, still smarting from its summer experiences with travellers, will this week consider calling for a tightening up of the law.

It's an issue that Bournemouth East MP David Atkinson has also sought to address.

His private member's bill called for gypsies' and travellers' rights to be formally established - along with their responsibilities.

But Mr Pitkin said: "They can't travel 24 hours a day, they have to stop somewhere. If you've got somewhere to put them then you can tighten up the laws but we don't."

"There is no political tolerance whatsoever and the perception from the public is that we're just a soft touch.

"I'm fully aware of that but we have to follow the law. If the council doesn't follow the law, who will?"

Following the law means council officers will continue to visit every set of travellers - whether they're Irish Gypsies, New Age travellers or Romanies - and assess the suitability of their chosen site, the health and welfare needs of any children and the likely impact on residents.

In 90 per cent of cases they will fork out £130 to go to court and get a repossession order and if necessary, they will spend an extra £90 hiring bailiffs to enforce that order.

It's a system that usually sees travellers move on in an average of eight to 10 days but then there is always the risk that they will find a new site and the process starts again.

There's no easy answer but there is some good news. Mr Pitkin believes the number of incursions have started to reduce following the installation of earth bunds and barriers at places including Redhill, Queens Park and Throop.

"That's encouraging for us and hopefully for residents too. But while there's no official site for travellers, we will always have these problems."