TRAVELLERS who face eviction from a former gypsy site have threatened to descend on Basingstoke if they are evicted.

Hampshire County Council, which owns the site at Peak Copse, near Dummer, served a notice on the travellers, ordering them to leave by 9am on Monday.

But the travellers, who gained entry into the site after tonnes of concrete and earth blocking the entrance were moved, have refused to budge.

Patrick Stocks - a spokesman for the group - said: "Every one of our caravans will go a different way into all the shopping centres if we get moved on.

"We're very happy here and aren't causing any grief. We have nowhere else to go. For the last two weeks, our kids have been going to school here."

He added: "We're waiting for court action. We have a solicitor already involved."

The county has applied to Basingstoke magistrates' court for a possession hearing, which is likely to take place next week.

A county council spokeswoman said: "Because there is a bungalow on the site, it is considered a residential area, so we will have to give five days notice of when the hearing will be."

Peak Copse was opened as a permanent travellers site in 1992 but, following a violent incident there involving firearms, it was temporarily closed in 1996.

Last month, the county decided the temporary closure should become a permanent one - but days later the travellers moved onto the site.