A former Conservative frontbencher has accused the police of being too concerned with the human rights of gypsies, rather than the local people whose lives are made a misery by the presence of nearby camps.

Andrew Mackay has called on the government to make it more difficult for travellers to circumvent orders to move on by shifting their camps by a few yards. He said members of the public "want to have protection under the law when they are invaded by scum".

"And they are scum, I use that word advisedly, because people who do what these people have done do not deserve the same human rights as my own decent constituents going about their everyday lives," said Mackay.

Home Office minister Angela Eagle said: "Travellers are part of our society and they should be afforded the same rights and dignities as other members." However, she went on: "We do not recognise that the minority status of travellers and gypsies should allow them to indulge in crime or anti-social behaviour or excuse that behaviour if they do."