A CRACKDOWN on troublemakers at Bolton's official gipsy caravan site is being demanded following a mass exodus of fed-up and frightened travelling families.

Just six families out of 26 remain on the Hall Lane, Moses Gate site.

And today one resident appealed for a new hard-line strategy to bring an end to a catalogue of problems.

Ruby Price, 27, said: "Enough is enough. We keep complaining but nothing gets done. There is just no respect for the authority of the wardens.

"We need someone who will lay down the law."

Residents claim that the site has been plagued with burglaries, vandalism, violence, drug dealing, blatant dumping of rubbish, dogs running wild and fouling all over the place and rats scurrying around the floor. In one of the most frightening incidents last Saturday masked armed raiders attacked and threatened a resident.

After that many families fled.

Ruby said: "I think that was the last straw for a lot of them. People are just so fed up. I have been trying for three years to get things sorted out. "We pay our money to be on this site and we deserve decent standards."

Mrs Price, who lives with three of her children Kizzy, eight, Jacob, two, and Jodie, one, added: "Is it too much to ask for this place to be safe for my children? Because people ignore the rules it's a pig-sty."

Notices have been served on some tenants who have breached the rules by dumping waste on their pitches.

Closed-circuit TV cameras costing more than £50,000 are due to be put in operation at the site. But residents claim these will just be smashed up.

Today Bolton Council's vice-chairman of housing pledged to make a full investigation.

Cllr Linda Thomas said: "We will investigate what is happening on the site and work with the gipsy liaison officer. Bolton has prided itself on being one of the authorities that provides decent standards for the travelling community.

"At the end of the day these people are our customers and they deserve to be able to live in peace and harmony."

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "We feel we do everything we reasonably can to supervise the site, which is regarded as one of the best run in the country.

"We have taken action in every case where it has been possible and we have an office on site which has a staff presence seven days a week."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.