Millions of pounds is to be spent on providing new and improved transit sites and stopping places for travellers.

The government has set aside £10m to increase the number of traveller sites in England and refurbish existing ones.

The money is coming from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and is designed to give families who don't have a permanent address easier access to healthcare, education and employment by providing them with a dedicated and official place to stop.

The funding available to local authorities can also be used to pay for public spaces on existing sites such as play areas for children or stabling for horses belonging to the travellers.

New and better sites will also reduce the likelihood of unauthorised encampments, says the government, by giving travellers somewhere approved they know they can stay.

Ministers also hope that by providing more options and better facilities for traveller communities it will also reduce potential tensions between travellers and the settled community - and cut the high costs of tackling unauthorised encampments that councils can be forced to bare.

The changes will also help and enable council officers and police forces to redirect travellers from unauthorised encampments to more suitable spaces.

Communities Minister, Kemi Badenoch, said: "It’s vital that everyone has access to the kind of services that offer the best support.

"So, these new and improved sites will give travellers easier routes to healthcare, education, and employment. This funding is just one of the ways the government is improving opportunities for communities across the country."

Councils will be able to bid for a share of the money from today, for either new permanent sites to meet the needs of travellers in their local area, or for a grant to refurbish or rebuild existing sites they may already be responsible for.