Fury in pretty little UK town with so many caravans - 'it's like a holiday camp'

A pretty little UK town has expressed uproar at the number of people sleeping in vans and motorhomes in a street. Residents say Beeston in the East Midlands could turn into a "holiday camp", as the Canal Side is proving a popular spot for people to legally park up their vehicles for the night. But locals claim that this has caused problems including congestion, and individuals leaving behind rubbish and waste from toilets in the road and the canal. A petition has been launched, urging Nottinghamshire County Council to take action.

Beeston, located just outside Nottingham, is not the only place in Britain where people have taken to living in vehicles. Places like Brighton, Falmouth and Bristol have found themselves on the front line of a nationwide housing crisis. It is believed that there are around 800 scattered across Bristol alone, with the lifestyle particularly visible on the Downs, as seen by the Express in July.

Beeston resident Geoff Green, 72, told the BBC: "I've had people emptying their effluent down the grate outside my property.

"It's totally ruining the area, and it's getting worse. Now they're migrating on to other roads.

"How long is it until the whole of the Rylands is like a big holiday camp?"

A person in a motorhome, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had been there for eight weeks and was waiting to buy a home nearby.

"I have sympathy with the residents - I wouldn't like it," he added.

"But it's entirely legal.

"Just because people don't like it, doesn't make it wrong."

According to Rightmove, house prices in Beeston have an overall average of £296,327 over the last year.

The majority of properties sold were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £286,041.

Terraced properties sold for an average of £219,023, with detached properties fetching £445,139.

Overall, the historical sold prices in the town were similar to the previous year and 2% down on the 2022 peak of £302,861.

A spokesperson from Nottinghamshire County Council said it "looks forward to receiving the petition and will carefully consider its contents and the issues it raises".

They added: "We will consider if the parked vehicles on Canal Side are now having a significant adverse effect upon other users of the highway and the surrounding community and what actions we might take to reduce those impacts such as consulting on introducing parking restrictions."