Politicians have called for more land to be made available for gypsy/travellers as a new report said almost 140 north and north-east locations are used for unauthorised camps.
Providing suitable sites for the large numbers of gypsy/travellers who come to rural Scotland has been a long-standing problem.
Efforts to improve the situation have been made in the north-east with the establishment of the Aikey Brae development near New Deer.
But last night, local politicians said more needed to be done after the Scottish Government report found that 43 places in Aberdeen had been used for unauthorised camps for up to four vans in the last three years.
Aberdeenshire had 50 camps on average each year which had used 30 unauthorised locations over the last three years. Thirty-nine unauthorised locations had been used in the Highland Council area and 24 in Moray. Fife and North Ayrshire had the most with 54 each.
Elsewhere in Scotland, there tended to be an average of between 15 and 20.
Aberdeen SNP councillor Christian Allard said: “I absolutely agree that we need to find a solution so that we have more authorised sites. Having more sites in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire is very, very important.
“I think it is up to the gypsy/travelling community to tell us where they want to be and it is up to us to respond.”
Aberdeenshire councillor Martin Ford said: “It has improved over the last few years, but we are a long way off having an appropriate network of sites across Aberdeenshire to meet the needs of the gypsy/traveller community.”
North-east MSP Liam Kerr said: “The north-east has been a magnet for unauthorised gypsy-traveller camps for several years now. Clearly there is a need for more sites. Our local councils are doing their best, but identifying permanent pitches for gypsy-traveller camps and convincing local communities that they should go ahead is easier said than done.
“A balance has to be struck between respecting the rights of travellers and those of local residents.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said improvements were being made to its Clinterty site and new sites were being looked at.
An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said it was working to identify additional accommodation. A Moray spokeswoman said it had no authorised halting sites but was working with public agencies to minimise difficulties faced by gypsy/travellers.
Highland Council said facilities at two of its four sites had been improved and there was no waiting list for pitches.