COUNCIL officers have been authorised to seek a High Court injunction banning a travelling family from camping alongside highways across York.

City of York councillors have decided the unprecedented legal action could be taken if officers feel it is the only way of solving problems caused by the travellers.

The decision was taken yesterday after members heard the authority had received more than a hundred complaints about the family in the past two years. Richard Haswell, the authority's regulation unit manager, said talks with the family had so far failed.

He said: "Previously we have approached the family and offered them an invitation to apply to have a pitch on one of our sites, but they have not taken up that option.

"Communication with this particular family is difficult, but they have indicated that they do not want a settled existence." The council say up to 40 or 50 horses belonging to the family have been tethered by the roadside at any one time.

They say the horses damage hedges, and complaints have been received from motorists concerned about the traffic hazard. A decision to go to the High Court would follow in the wake of a similar court action currently being undertaken by North Yorkshire County Council. Mr Haswell said the council was sympathetic following a recent family bereavement, and would be resuming talks with the family before any decision on a High Court injunction would be made.

The Evening Press today made extensive but unsuccessful efforts to locate the family for comment. The travellers, who yesterday accused the council of harassing them and claimed that they tethered their horses carefully, have moved on from a roadside camp near Haxby to a location east of York, with their horses tethered alongside various country lanes.

Updated: 10:59 Friday, March 08, 2002