Witham MP Priti Patel has continued to call on ministers make traveller planning policy fairer.

Last Wednesday Ms Patel handed a batch of her constituents letters about the system used to allocate traveller sites to the department for communities and local Government during the last day of a consultation on a new planning policy.

She said: “Communities throughout my constituency and across Essex have faced serious problems with the way the planning process operates against them and ignores their views.

“What is needed is a change in the planning system to ensure that the wishes of local communities are respected and that the system treats everyone equally without given special treatment to certain groups of people.”

Last month Ms Patel hosted a Parliamentary debate on the topic and called for the system to become more balanced.