LANDOWNERS have been branded disgraceful for refusing to kick travellers off a Southampton sports field - a move which could cost taxpayers up to £10,000.

The field next to St Mark's School in Stafford Road, Shirley, has been home to the group and their caravans for more than four weeks.

Now furious city council bosses have criticised the Civil Service Sports Council, which owns the land, for dragging its heels in moving them off the site.

They say local people have been badly let down and that thousands of pounds has been spent in legal costs which could have been better spent on needed services in the city.

The authority has now been forced to take matters into its own hands and use an obscure piece of law, the first time it has been tried in Southampton, to kick them out.

Because the field is licensed for use by the council-run school, it technically has an interest in the land and can apply to have the travellers removed.

Magistrates in Southampton yesterday agreed the travellers should go and there is now one more hearing tomorrow which, if successful, could see them forced to move within hours.

The legal shenanigans have cost "thousands" says the council. Some estimates put the figure as high as £10,000.

A spokesman for the authority said the money could have been put to better use.

"The council feels that the Civil Service Sports Council has behaved disgracefully. It has failed in all of its obligations and proved itself an unworthy landlord.

"If local people feel they have been badly let down, we understand because we feel the same thing. It's certainly cost thousands and that's money that could otherwise be spent on services local people need."

While the legal wrangle has dragged on, local people have been forced to endure late-night noise. One man said a traveller threatened to set fire to his car.

The site, which was used as a sports facility by the school, is now so churned up that travellers are using a nearby access road to get on to it, forcing the next-door school to bar youngsters from using certain gates for fear of an accident.

A spokesman for the Civil Service Sports Council said he was unable to comment.