A new Bill drafted in Wales to reduce descrimination against travellers has been described as a "nightmare" by Cardiff County Council.

The reforms, if adopted, will require local authorities to provide accommodation for 300,000 gypsies and travellers in the UK. If they do not comply they will face difficulties in evicting illegal encampments.

Lynda Thorne, Chair of Housing at Cardiff County Council, said: "This is absolute nonsense and it doesn't address the issue of homelessness. It creates a nightmare burden for us.

"There is already a crisis in rented properties in Cardiff and with the rising cost of houses this would just add to the numbers of people waiting for places we don't have."

There are two official traveller's sites in Cardiff, one on Rover Way, Splott and the other at Shirenewton Caravan Park, Rumney.

Splott Councillor Martin Holland said: "I really don't have a problem with it. We have had a bit of bother at the site in the past but there have been very few complaints.

"Cardiff is renowned for welcoming anyone but I don't know how the council will cope because the official site is always full."

The Bill is the product of more than four years of consultation conducted by Cardiff Law School, part of Cardiff University. Organisations representing gypsies and travellers collaborated with police, local authorities, education and health providers, churches, equality organisations, lawyers and planners throughout the UK to draft the Bill.

Luke Clements, Co-Director of the Traveller Law Research Unit at Cardiff University, said: "Local authorities have a duty to house certain people and have major resources to support the construction of public housing. The Bill removes discrimination by extending powers to use its resources to support caravan site development."

"These ethnic minority groups have the most appalling accommodation provisions, the highest infant mortality rates and the lowest life expectancy," said Mr Clements. "In effect the Bill creates self-enforcing provisions; measures which do not depend upon 'political will' for their subsequent enforcement."

Approximately 100,000 travellers in the UK have no safe, legal or secure stopping place and there are only 16 designated stopping sites in Wales. Many of which have no access to water, refuse disposal or other essential services.

The Private Member's Bill seeks to reform the 1994 Criminal Justice Act and remove from the political stage decisions concerning site provision and site 'toleration'. It also includes provision for setting up a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Commission to assess the need for sites throughout England and Wales.

If it is adopted local authorities will also be required to facilitate site provision, 'tolerate' historic sites and collaborate with Housing Associations to provide, develop and manage sites.

Alex Pickles, of Friends, Families and Travellers, an organisation that provides a 24-hour helpline for gypsies, said: "Not every organisation agrees but it is a very necessary step forward. These people have been criminalised for their way of life and their network of traditional stopping places are continually being closed down and not replaced.

"They have been forced into living in unsuitable places which are not particularly pleasant. The sites are often concreted over and the travellers are prevented from working, keeping animals or improving the site.

"Policing, evictions, local authority costs and the system of blocking off sites have often forced gypsies into conflict with the local communities. But these things wouldn't happen if the Bill was adopted and the whole system would probably cost less.

"It's a whole lot cheaper to accommodate than not."

Last November, a 12-month National Assembly inquiry into new policy on gypsies and travellers was labelled a waste of time and taxpayers' money by the Gypsy Council. Only two weeks ago Andrew MacKay, MP for Bracknell, in the House of Commons described travellers as "scum."

He said: "They are scum, and I use the word advisedly. People who do what these people have done do not deserve the same human rights as my decent constituents going about their everyday lives."