Paddy Doherty hits the road after Gypsy Council fall out with Salford council

Paddy Doherty has quit his job running Salford’s Duchy Road caravan site – after his bosses fell out with the town hall. The Celebrity Big Brother winner had been caretaker of the 30-plot council-owned site since 1998. He ran it on behalf of the National Gypsy Council, which had a management contract with Salford council. As revealed on Monday, he has now moved to North Wales. Now the Gypsy Council has told us it is ‘disillusioned’ with the way the council has behaved – and has washed its hands of Duchy Road altogether. Salford housing provider Salix has taken over.

Hughie Smith, president of the Gypsy Council, said the site has been neglected. He said some caravans were in desperate need of modernisation but the council only upgraded four. He said: "There’s still 11 plots where people are using these old, steel pillar box toilets. They are living in misery." Last year the council spent £200,000 upgrading the site. The government provided £150,000 while Salford council picked up the rest of the bill. But Mr Smith said Salford should have applied for more cash. He said the council had also broken a promise to provide temporary gypsy plots on a former scrapyard next door. Mr Smith said the Gypsy Council and Mr Doherty walked away from the arrangement following a series of crisis meetings with the council over the last year. He added: "We terminated the agreement we had a couple of months go. "We are very disillusioned with the authority. They say they are working for the people but they are certainly not working for Gypsies."

Paddy Doherty hit the headlines in March after the council decided to investigate the site’s finances, including £1m of rent collected by the TV star over 12 years. It eventually concluded there had been no foul play, but said it wanted ‘greater transparency’ in any future arrangements. When talks to redraw the contract failed, Salix stepped in. Councillor Peter Connor, lead member for housing at Salford council, said: "There are far more plots available in Salford than a lot of other local authorities provide and... we have recently carried out improvements at the site. Salix Homes will now continue to ensure the site is properly maintained for residents."