EXTRA security guards have been drafted in to deal with Irish gypsies who have invaded a Chippenham industrial estate.

More than 20 caravans and four ponies moved onto a car park in Lansdowne Court on Sunday and parked just yards away from plush new offices at the far end of Bumpers Farm industrial estate.

Security 2000 has doubled the number of staff patrolling the site and a dog has been brought in after all four tyres on one of their vehicles were slashed.

One local company has had broken glass pushed through their letterbox and other businesses have reported threatening behaviour from the gypsies, including a man who was walking around with a pickaxe handle.

The landowner, Country Estate, was due to secure an injunction today to try to get them evicted.

A spokesman for Security 2000 said: "The attack on the vehicle was an unusual thing to happen, they have never been vandalised before. We have had gypsies and travellers on some of the sites we patrol before and they do concern us.

"We have doubled our staff and brought in a dog to act as a deterrent but it is only a short-term measure. We hope things will not get any worse."

Police are regularly checking the site for damage or disruption but cannot intervene until an eviction notice is served.

Inspector Steve Hedley of Chippenham police said officers had received complaints about their behaviour.

A spokesman for Country Estate said: "As soon as we have the eviction notice on Friday we will serve it on them as long as the bailiffs and police are available to help."

Employees from Bechtle Direct, an IT solutions company in Lansdowne Court, are disgusted and outraged by the invasion.

A company spokesman said: "It feels like we have been ambushed.

"I won't be able to sleep at night because I will be worried about someone breaking in here. It is unbelievable. There is rubbish and pony muck everywhere.

"It looks really bad for the business. We had a visitor here today and he kept checking his car all the time. Another person came for an interview and he saw all of that and was really scared."

Bechtle Direct claims a group of gypsies have caused problems on the industrial estate in the past.

A spokesman for the company said: "They were here about six months ago. We had a break-in and had computers stolen, that's why there are now bars on the windows downstairs. It cost us £10,000 to fix everything and I am sure it was them."

Maggie Smith-Bendell, who works for the Romany Gypsy Council, said the problems highlight the case for a long-term transit site in the area.

She said: "The area is desperate for one. People have nowhere else to go so they have to stop somewhere. Where do they go from there?

"There is normally a reason why they would stop somewhere like this. Someone could need medical attention or be pregnant. They just need some breathing space."