Controversial plans to create nearly 80 pitches for gipsy families in South Gloucestershire are to go on show.

People are being urged to have their say on the plans at a series of exhibitions held as part of a 12-week consultation exercise.

The Government has insisted the district should provide new pitches by 2011, otherwise it could step in and decide where the sites should go.

Its demand has led South Gloucestershire Council to draw up a list of 17 sites where pitches could be set up. They would include 53 residential and 25 transit pitches, with the authority hoping to find room for some by squeezing them into existing camps.

But it is also looking new sites for caravans, with some areas near current camps and others in previously undeveloped locations.

The council already has two official sites in Highwood Lane, Patchway, and in Old Gloucester Road, Winterbourne.

There are also a number of privately owned sites throughout the district and the council has spoken with traveller families to hear their suggestions of how to meet the tough target.

People living in areas where pitches have been proposed have already complained about the move. They have also urged council leaders to abandon any move to put pitches on areas prone to flooding.

Pilning residents said there were already five traveller sites near the village and one of the potential sites was for land next to a proposed new village school. They have handed in a petition.

The first exhibition will take place in Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre on Tuesday, November 18, from 2.30pm to 7pm.

The second is on Friday, November 21, in Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, from 10am to 2.30pm, and the third is on Thursday, November 27, from 12.30pm to 5pm.

Sites being considered to take extra pitches are those in Bank Road, Pilning; Bristol Road, Frampton Cotterell; Henfield Road, Coalpit Heath; Gloucester Road, Almondsbury; Berwick Lane, Easter Compton; Badminton Road, Nibley, near Yate, and two in Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh.

Sites close to existing camps are in Bank Road, Pilning, and next to Northwood Park, Winterbourne.

New locations are in: Hall End Lane, between Wickwar and Rangeworthy; Wyckbeck Road, Patchway; Kendall Close, Yate, between the Badminton and Westerleigh business parks. Being considered solely for transit camps are: land next to the service station at Sandy Lane, Aust; Curtis Lane, Stoke Gifford; Northwick Road, Pilning, and east of Mulgrove Farm, near Old Gloucester Road, Winterbourne.

The council will make the final decision on the camps after the consultation is completed. It will then have to apply for planning permission for the pitches.

Council spokesman Ryan Skeets said: "We want to hear the views of all people on the proposed locations for sites. We will listen carefully to what they have to say and consultation responses will be taken into consideration, together with suggestions for alternative locations."