Residents have reported living in fear after signs were erected on a street near a Traveller site.

The signs, which appeared on Kingsdown Lane near Blunsdon last Saturday, have been placed on the roadside leading to a Traveller’s community which has been there for over 30 years.

The residents in the community deny they placed the signs.

Residents and businesses wanted to remain anonymous due to fear of repercussions.

One resident who walks his dog in nearby fields said: “Quite a few people won’t come down because they are intimidated. Everyone’s frightened”.

Complaints include reports of fighting, loose dogs, foul language, driving vehicles quickly in the road and litter.

Others said the signs themselves were intimidating, reading: “Gypsies live here, WARNING, dogs roam loose on Private Property."

Another resident added: “I know people are not very happy about it. And I've spoken to people walking their dogs down there. They're concerned about it. There are a lot of concerns.”

According to residents, some people have started to avoid the area due to the ill-feeling.

Business owners suggested that these people avoiding the area had led to a loss of trade.

A resident said: “Nobody's done anything about it.

"The council in Swindon have never done anything about it.”

Not all residents are afraid, with one saying: “We haven’t had any problems.

“We live and let live - we get one with our lives and they get on with theirs.”

She continued: “It's because of the reputation of the traveller people. But a lot of these are permanent residents.

“[They] are no trouble - they've been there for years."

But she did describe "absolutely appalling" language.

Paul Lee, 60, one of the travelling community, said: “We are not responsible for putting up the signs, that was someone else.

“We have lived here for 30 years.”

A report by the Traveller advocacy group Friends, Families and Travellers says that travelling communities experience some of the highest levels of racially motivated abuse.

National research carried out by the Centre on the Dynamics of Diversity found 62 per cent of Gypsies and Travellers had experienced racial abuse, which was the highest out of all minority ethnic groups surveyed.

Research from the Office for National Statistics found: “The accommodation needs and preferences of [Travellers] varied, however, a common priority among participants was wanting to live somewhere they felt safe, with access to basic amenities such as electricity, water and showers, and where they could live near to loved ones.

“Some described a lack of basic amenities, limited choices, a sense of being unsafe and few positive relationships with others around them, with potentially detrimental impacts on their physical and mental well-being.”

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said: “We would not comment on such general negative speculation about a group of people.”

Swindon Borough Council said it was looking into the issue.