"WE love our lifestyle and don't want it to change."

That was the message from a travelling family, who say they are struggling to come to terms with a ground-breaking court order to regulate their behaviour.

The five-year anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) against the Smith family bans them from staying in a 10-square mile area of Ryedale, and from returning to within a mile of any previously occupied site within 12 months.

The Gazette & Herald reported last week how four heads of the family were arrested and bailed after breaching the order by moving onto a site near Strensall.

David Smith Senior, 58, and his nephews Thomas Smith, 27, Richard Smith, 26, and Rebbie Smith, 19, were made the subjects of the order last summer.

The family of 13 occupies three caravans, which they often pitch at roadsides and verges across North Yorkshire, because the ASBO prevents them setting up on private land.

Their simple campsite comes with a traditional cooking pot over a fire, where most of the group were struggling to keep warm when they were interviewed by the Gazette & Herald.

They were surrounded by a dozen barking dogs tied to fences. They own eight horses which they breed, sell and keep tethered nearby.

"We love our lifestyle and don't want it to change," said Richard Smith. "The ASBO has made things harder because it's difficult to think about where we can go."

Lately, the family has been at Scotchman Lane, between Flaxton and Strensall.

They survive on benefits, which they all club together, and whatever money they make from selling animals.

The Smiths' biggest problem is moving every three weeks, as their vehicles were impounded and crushed by police for having no tax or insurance.

Robin Smith, 23, said: "We've only got our bikes now, so we have to camp fairly close to villages so we can go to the post office or the shop."

He said the family's ideal was to stay permanently on a travellers' site, or rent part of a field from a landowner.

The family applied for plots at the Ryedale council site and two York council sites, but are unlikely to be admitted while they keep so many dogs and horses.

Ryedale antis-ocial behaviour officer Fred McManus said the ASBO was starting to work and asked other people to be understanding.

"If the Smiths are camped on a roadside away from any houses and are not being anti-social, they do not need to make a complaint to the council.

"But if members of the public know they are breaching the ASBO, we want to know about it."

Updated: 15:06 Wednesday, February 08, 2006