Great Dorset Steam Fair temporary traveller site approved

The entrance to the traveller site on the A354 Salisbury Road near Tarrant Hinton

A temporary traveller site for up to a hundred caravans has been approved ahead of the Great Dorset Steam Fair.

The site, on the A354 Salisbury Road near Tarrant Hinton, is expected to accommodate travellers visiting the county for the fair.

Dorset Council said the site would only be open for travellers to use for up to 21 days, while the fair takes place.

The authority's planning committee said without it, Dorset Police would be "powerless" to move on travellers.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, in previous years up to 90 vehicles have parked in the field now assigned for the site.

A map showing the Tarrant Hinton traveller site near the Great Dorset Steam Fair

The site is in an Area of Outstanding Beauty, but councillors were told the use was justified because it was temporary, and without approval there would be "random parking and camping throughout".

The steam fair site itself, which is more than 250 hectares (620 acres), uses roughly a quarter of its area for caravans and camping but precludes lorries which traveller's often use for their own accommodation.

The Salisbury Road site will have a water supply and temporary toilets and facilities, as well as pedestrian access to the fair site via a farm track, during the 21 days.