Once again, Bradford is being visited by the traditional summer roadshow of travellers, who entertain the city with their litter, mess and general antics.

This time the travellers have landed at a car park by the Phoenix Park golf course, and owners report children playing in the bunkers, the rough being used as a toilet, and cars skidding around the greens.

No-one would object to any person deciding to follow an alternative lifestyle if they were respectful of others. However, this respect does not seem to be forthcoming, and as a result ordinary citizens find it difficult to summon up the tolerance the travellers would like to be afforded.

This latest visitation is not, of course, the first time groups of travellers have set up temporary home in Bradford in recent weeks.

The story has now become a familiar one: Travellers arrive, there are complaints of mess and annoyance, and then the lengthy process involving solicitors and court orders to get them to move grinds slowly into action.

Bradford City Council already provides a properly-serviced site for travellers to use, with all the facilities they need.

Having kept this side of the bargain, the Council should be afforded greater powers to act quickly when travellers decide to ignore the approved sites and set up shop in areas which cause maximum annoyance to the rate payers of the city.

If Council officers could swoop on an unofficial camp-site the moment the travellers arrive and order them to leave, then maybe they would think twice about treating public spaces or private facilities like they were a tip or toilet to be used, abused, and abandoned.