The city council has had to move on 220 Travellers from unauthorised camps in Dundee this year while its official site has lain virtually empty.
As another illicit site was established in the city’s Caird Park on Monday, it emerged that the local authority’s official Traveller site at Tealing has been occupied, on average, by just four caravans since January, despite being able to accommodate 20.
Only six people have paid to use the site in nearly six months, meaning most of those who use the site are long-term visitors.
The Balmuir Wood site operated at a loss of £96,964 in 2014/15.
At the same time, 12 illicit camps have been broken up by city council officials since January, including a 42-vehicle set-up at Camperdown Park, 30 caravans at Caird Park and 22 at both Riverside Drive and West Pitkerro Industrial Estate.
The most recent camp of 16 caravans was located at Balmerino Road in Douglas and the group is now thought to have moved to Caird Park.
A community leader, who has seen Traveller camps on land close to his house, questioned whether the official site should be kept running.
Ron Neave, chairman of Fintry Community Council and a member of the North East Community Planning Partnership, said: “When we are talking about a figure that size, surely there has to be questions raised over whether the site is viable.
“How long can the council continue to fund a deficit like this when there are cuts being made left, right and centre to every other service it runs?
“Add this deficit to clean-up costs, to obtaining warrants to get Travellers to move on and to what it costs the police to deal with it, and the cost to the taxpayer is ridiculous.
“I think councillors have to ask how sensible it is to keep the Tealing site going because in this day and age, every penny needs to be accounted for, yet this keeps going on and on.”
The data was revealed through a Freedom of Information request.