A protest petition was handed to district council leader John Fuller during a public meeting to discuss controversial proposals for gipsy and traveller sites near Wymondham.

A PROTEST petition was handed to district council leader John Fuller during a public meeting to discuss controversial proposals for gipsy and traveller sites near Wymondham.

South Norfolk Council has put forward a short list of nine potential locations, the majority of which are in the Wymondham area. The concerns raised included an alleged lack of credibility in the scoring system used to assess the sites, and whether the travelling community had actually been represented. Objectors also claimed that no local residents or councillors had been involved in the process.

A spokesman for the Spooner Row and Suton Residents Group said after the meeting: "As residents and taxpayers we believe we are being treated disgracefully and will fight this all the way. We accept there is a need for such sites but it has to be the right site and we find it absolutely incredible that South Norfolk Council representatives could visit four proposed sites and come up with the evaluations they have made.

"We just hope our points will be listened to at the highest level as it truly beggars belief, and surely cannot stand up to independent scrutiny."

Mr Fuller disputed the claim that the area had not been represented. "Wymondham councillors participated in this and the previous consultation. Discussions were held in cabinet and the five Wymondham councillors have made their views known," he said.

More than 300 people signed the petition. Officers will report back the results of the consultation to South Norfolk Council's cabinet on June 29. The authority expects to submit its final proposals to the Planning Inspectorate in October.