Travellers have moved onto land at Weymouth's Park & Ride site at Mount Pleasant.

Dorset Police said the group arrived on Friday.

Officers are aware and are monitoring the situation.

The land is owned by Dorset County Council.

A spokesman for the council said: "Our gypsy and traveller liaison officer will be visiting the group to discover if there are any health, welfare and education issues and how long they are planning to stay.”

Groups of travellers set up on or near the Park & Ride site a few times in the summer.

As reported, a plan to allocate permanent and transit sites in Dorset for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople was carried out in 2011.

The original timetable stated that the plan would be adopted by the end of 2016. But it still is not in place, and Dorset County Council has now admitted that Local Government Reorganisation could delay the process even further.

The authority stressed remains committed to the plan, which came about due to government guidance published in 2013 which aimed to improve the circumstances and outcomes for gypsies and travellers.

This included raising education attainment, improving health outcomes, encouraging appropriate site provision, tackling hate crime and improving knowledge of how gypsies and travellers engage with services.

PLEASE NOTE: Comments have been opened on this story but any reference to gypsies or any racially offensive term will cause them to be closed and you may find your account suspended.

Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are legally recognised as ethnic groups, and protected by the Race Relations Act.

Please keep your comments to this particular incident and do not generalise. Thanks for your co-operation.