TRAVELLERS have set up another encampment, just days after a battle for more powers to crack down on illegal travellers' camps had again been brought up in Parliament by a Newport MP.

The recent encampment, which was set up yesterday along Usk Way, is the fourth to be set up this month.

A group of travellers set up camp at Beechwood Park earlier this month. They were there for around five days before being moved on.

Just days before, the same group had been removed from grounds near Caerleon RFC - with people living in the area claiming that the group had emptied chemical toilets and defecated underneath the rugby posts.

And earlier this week a group parked in the corner of Morrisons car park, in Orb Drive, Newport. It is not known if this is the same group as the previous two cases.

Last week Newport East MP Jessica Morden brought concerns over proposed new powers to crack down on illegal encampments before the government.

But, having not received much of an answer, the Labour MP brought the issue up again in the House of Commons on Monday.

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Addressing housing, communities and local government secretary James Brokenshire, Ms Morden said: "The department (of housing, communities and local government) recently consulted on extra powers for local authorities and the police to deal with unauthorised encampments, a series of which we have had recently in Newport.

"Can ministers update us on the progress being made so that our authorities have the powers they need?"

Mr Brokenshire replied: "As (Ms Morden) will know, a number of those enforcement powers are led by the Home Office, and co-ordination between councils and the police is imperative.

"She will know that I laid a written statement on that a while back.

"Discussions continue with my ministerial colleagues, because I recognise the pressures.

"If there are specific examples that (Ms Morden) would like to draw to my attention, I would be pleased to receive them."

In February the government announced a series of potential measures which would increase police powers to crack down on encampments - but no more announcements have been made since.

The proposed measures would allow police to direct trespassers to suitable authorised sites in neighbouring local authorities and remove trespassers from land that forms part of the highway.

They would also lower the threshold for the number of vehicles before powers can be exercised and increase the period of time trespassers cannot return to land they have been directed away from.

Other sites in Newport used by travellers this year include Newport International Sports Village and Imperial Industrial Park, near Tredegar House.