VALE Royal Borough Council has apologised to a Frodsham community after failing to warn them there could be a travellers’ site on their doorsteps.

Frodsham Cllr Andrew Dawson accusing borough of “lacking common courtesy” over earmarking fields near Ship Street, Frodsham, for a Travellers’ site without informing the landowners or nearby residents.

He said: “At a full council meeting last week both an officer and the leader of the council apologised for what has occurred.

“I think it is appropriate under the circumstances.

“The council just didn’t consider the effect of getting things wrong in terms of managing the publicity.”

Homeowners on Ship Street and nearby roads reacted angrily after The Chronicle revealed the council was considering the area for a permanent site for Travellers, fearing for their security, privacy and that house prices will be affected.

Vale Royal Borough Council has identified a need for 17-23 permanent pitches for Travellers and Gypsies in the borough plus four pitches for travelling show people.

Four sites have been earmarked by outside consultants as being potentially suitable for a permanent site. They are Ship Street, Frodsham; New Road, Winsford; Bradford Road, Winsford; and Chester Road, Sandiway.

Head of Vale Royal Borough Council Environmental Health and Housing Services, Rupert Adams said: “We identified an immediate need for sites and the next stage was to identify areas which would be suitable for the Travellers’ needs.

“The process needed to start somewhere and the normal way of doing this is to do a site search and provide us with a list of sites that meet the government criteria.

“It’s a chicken and egg situation.”