THE gypsies who set up an illegal camp on land at Minety looked set to have their planning application thrown out by district planners last night.

Villagers reacted in outrage when the gypsies arrived over a weekend last August and set up 16 caravans on land they had bought on the road to Cricklade, on the outskirts of the village.

The gypsies only belatedly put in a planning application for the camp after North Wiltshire District Council had taken them to court.

The council's development control committee met last night to discuss the application.

The committee was expected to accept the recommendation of their development and implementation team leader Charles Pescod for refusing the plan.

Chairman of the parish council David Brown said: "The feelings in the village have not changed one iota since the gypsies first arrived.

"It is resentment at the double standards and the two fingers the gypsies have waved at North Wiltshire District Council and the rest of the village."

The Hyland family who live next door to the site say their life has been blighted, by noise, a nuisance since the gypsies arrival.

They spent £3,000 on a state-of-the-art security system to protect their home.

Gypsies' representative Maggie Smith-Bendall was unavailable for comment yesterday.