A TEMPORARY site for travellers has been set up in north Dorset ahead of next weekend's Great Dorset Steam Fair.
The site at Tarrant Hinton opened on Friday and will be operating for three weeks.
The Great Dorset Steam Fair takes place between Thursday, August 23 and Monday, August 27.
It attracts thousands of visitors each year and this year marks the event’s 50th anniversary.
A spokesman for Dorset County Council said: “Several locations have been used over the years but a consensus has been developed between the county and district councils, parish councils and Blandford Town Council, the Steam Fair organisers and the landowner who hosts the site on a preferred location for the transit site.”
They added: “Over the years this operation has been extremely successful. It allowed Dorset Police to be one of the first authorities to trigger the Section 62A powers and the partnership was shortlisted for a national Police Diversity Award several years’ ago.”
The landowner and Steam Fair organisers have agreed to support a planning application for a further five years.
A temporary police station has also opened and is open daily between 9am and 5pm until August 28.
North Dorset Police said patrols have also been stepped-up in the Blandford area.
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