Villagers are preparing for a planning battle, after a travelling family set up caravans near their homes.

Householders in historic Warkworth, Northumberland, fear the recent arrival of the Lowthers from Cumbria - complete with two donkeys and a horse - could open the floodgates for a full-blown travellers' camp on their doorstep.

The Romany couple, Terrance and Kathleen, have already set up three caravans on the edge of a field they own at the end of Heatherleazes, where the average home costs over £250,000.

They were granted permission in January 2001 to turn the site into an equestrian centre, but so far only the car park - where they are now parked - has been built.

And the Lowthers are now asking Alnwick District Council to green-light their mobile homes with retrospective planning permission.

But locals - who didn't want to be named - are furious, and say they will object.

"If this is allowed to happen, where will it end?" said one householder.

"It's almost impossible for anyone local to get planning permission, so why should they be treated any different?"

Another added: "We're deeply concerned. Will more travellers turn up? They've already stuck a portaloo on the site, right next to the boundary fence with the house next door. It's just not on."

But speaking last night, Mrs Lowther said her family had been left with no choice but to move to Warkworth when their last site at Carlisle closed down two weeks ago.

"We have a seriously ill daughter, Lisa Anne, who is battling cancer," said the 52-year-old, who took up her husband's way of life when they married 34 years ago.

"She's just 23. We had no land to stay on in Cumbria, so we had no choice but to come to Warkworth, where we do have land.

"With Lisa's health problems, we couldn't just stay by the side of the road.

"She's being treated in hospital by specialists, and has undergone intensive chemotherapy and now radiotherapy at Newcastle. Local people have nothing to be afraid of. We're not going to let anyone else on the site, we're not criminals and we're spotlessly clean.

"We just want a place for ourselves and to live our lives in peace."

Mr Lowther, 60, is also disabled, and works as a horse dealer.

The application site has been in Mrs Lowther's family, the Ornsbys, for over 100 years.

It was owned by her uncle who lived locally.

Her grandparents and other relatives are buried in Warkworth churchyard and she still has relatives in the area.

On his death, Mrs Lowther's uncle left the land to her father, who then left it to her mother, who in turn left it to her three children.

Mrs Lowther is now the sole owner of the land.

Last night their planning agent, Alison Heine, said: "This family have been made homeless. There are strong personal needs for this family to be settled, and of particular concern is the poor health of Miss Lowther, who is being treated for high grade malignant lymphoma.

"I hope the local community will accept and welcome this family."

Alnwick District Council's planning department says it will decide the application in due course.

Warkworth ward councillor Jeff Watson said the caravans contravened local planning regulations.

"This application is made more difficult because it is such an emotive subject," he said. "I don't, however, think this plan will get any support locally.

"You couldn't get planning permission there for a permanent property under normal circumstances, because it's outside the village envelope."

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System 'stacked against Gypsy community'

A support group set up for travellers says the planning system is stacked against them - even if they own the land in question, like the Lowthers.

Friends, Families & Travellers (FFT) was established in response to the 1994 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act and is one of a number of leading organisations which have emerged seeking to address the problems facing the traveller and Gypsy community.

A spokesman said: "Travellers are probably unique in relation to the planning system in England and Wales. They are dependent, like all others, in needing planning permission for their dwellings. But unlike dwellers in houses, there is no significant market in sites which have planning permission and they experience extreme difficulty in obtaining planning permission for sites, whether or not they have the finances necessary for buying a site.

"From the point of view of travellers, the planning process and system represents a very large obstacle to the fulfillment of their basic needs - a secure place to live, which provides for basic accommodation consistent with their ethnic or cultural needs."