ONLY two of 15 pitches on a council-run gypsy site are being used despite £100,000 being spent doing the place up.

The reason for the under-use of the site near Bere Regis is because Dorset County Council wants to "get the right sort of tenants".

Not included on that list at the moment, it appears, is gypsy mum Mary Cooper and her family, who say they are barred from the council-run site at Coldharbour.

The 34-year-old says it is because she is accused of leaving rubbish behind last time she was there.

She wants to return to live at the gypsy site where she grew up, in order to be near her elderly mother.

Only two of the 15 pitches are occupied and Mrs Cooper fears the site is being run down by the council.

"Why is this being left as a sad, lonely site when there are people who want to live here?" she pleaded.

"When we were moved off Wareham common on to the Coldharbour site we were told it was a gypsy site for us but all the rules and regulations, I think, are trying to end the gypsy lifestyle.

"The council says I can't return because I left rubbish behind - which is untrue."

Mary has a husband Adam Cooper, son Shaun, 13, and son Steven, nine, who want to settle on the site so the boys' schooling is not disrupted.

She claimed: "They are robbing travellers of their rights."

Mike Evans of Dorset County Council said £100,000 over the last two years had been spent improving facilities, creating a play area and on fencing.

The decision not to let the family back took account of representations made through Friends, Families and Travellers, an organisation representing travellers.

He said: "We are not allowing the site to decline, we are spending money on it and really trying to keep it going as a facility for gypsies. Part of our strategy is getting the right people on the site, not the wrong people."

First published: August 29