The Minety gypsies are here to stay, according to their agent Maggie Smith-Bendall.

Mrs Smith-Bendall, who heads the British Romany-Gypsy Council, said unless more permanent sites are built, the Minety problem will remain unsolved.

She said: "As this country has grown we have been left behind. The Government needs to stop dead and do something about it. They should educate North Wiltshire councillors about our education and culture."

The Minety gypsies were allowed to stay on their land last week after a High Court Judge in Bristol adjourned the matter until a public planning enquiry next February.

Judge Weeks acknowledged the site was a "flagrant and deliberate breach of planning control".

But he ruled the welfare of the 31 adults and 24 children had to be taken into account particularly as there was no suitable location for them to go.

He said: "The immediate hardship and suffering which will result from the order sought is sufficient to outweigh the public interest in enforcing it."

Mrs Smith-Bendall said the Minety gypsies deserved respect from villagers. She said: "We have been around for 2,000 years. Our ancestors originally came from Egypt and we are more English than the people here. We have our own language and special traditions."

And she hit back at campaigner Verina Hyland, who lives adjacent to the site and who criticised the Gypsies in last week's Gazette.

Mrs Smith-Bendall said: "I did notice Mrs Hyland ripped up a hedge to make a new gateway. But I have never seen any planning application for it. They scream and shout at the gypsies here and they do exactly the same. What do these people think we are, aliens?"

Most Minety people have no problem with the gypsies, according to Mrs Smith-Bendall.

She said: "There is always one rotten egg in the basket. But I have never had a phone call from the local police saying there is a problem."

The gypsy representative insisted the families at the site, on the B4040 Minety to Cricklade Road, want to integrate with villagers.

She said: "We have always been a very private people. But we would like to get our kids involved in village life. North Wiltshire District Council wants them to go, but there is nowhere to go. People need to understand that telling gypsies to go and get a mortgage like other people is like sticking a wild bird in a cage. It is not our way of life."

Minety Gypsies belong to a long tradition of English Romany gypsies, said their agent. "We are one people. We help each other. If a doctor told one of us we would die within three months, then everybody would be with them day and night.

"Births are also very important to us. Our children are well looked after. If they do anything wrong we make sure they are punished."