Our sleepy rural town is being ruined by tourist drivers – we’ve even been ‘punched and kicked’ over parking spaces
RESIDENTS of a sleepy rural town claim it has been ruined by tourists, with some even “punched and kicked” over parking spaces.
The population of the tiny village can increase by up to 20 times over a weekend as visitors arrive by the coachload.
Locals of Bilbury, Gloucestershire, have hit out at the placement of parking bays, which they say have flooded the place with unnecessary footfall.
The little Cotswolds village houses a bridge over the River Coln, which enforces a weight limit of 7.5 tonnes.
As a result, there are two coach parking spaces on the Bibury side of the bridge, which the roughly 1,000 inhabitants claim has caused untold trouble.
Up to 50 coaches are believed to move through the village during the peak season while as many as 20,000 people flock to the area over the course of a weekend.
Local campaigners have accused tourists of parking illegally on double yellows and blocking roads.
The resulting tension has even apparently seen things get physical, with one resident claiming to have been “punched and kicked” amid the rows.
Mark Honeyball, who chairs the Bibury Parking Working Group, told BBC News: “I’ve been assaulted four times now.
“They can get quite aggressive, the residents can get quite aggressive as well and it’s all just created a very unpleasant atmosphere.”
The alleged assault is now under police investigation.
What makes the parking war all the more frustrating for locals is that many of the coaches are actually exempt from the bridge’s weight limit but don’t cross it because drivers don’t realise they are allowed.
Lisa Spivey, of Gloucestershire County Council, said: “It’s a bit tricky because a weight limit can’t be enforced by an ANPR camera.
“You’d have to basically have a police officer on one side of the bridge, pulling every coach over and checking the weight.
“It’s going to have to up be to the County Council as the local highway authority to really grasp the nettle and make some bold moves on this so I’m trying to get everybody around the table.”
The local parish council is recommending that the parking area be pedestrianised, with coaches redirected to a nearby trout farm, which has apparently agreed to host cars and small coaches.
Jason Humm, the County Council’s Director of Transport and Highways, added: “The bridge at Bibury is historical and carries the B4425, so busy traffic and any heavy vehicles will inevitably contribute to its maintenance needs.
“We are aware of the parish council’s aspiration to ban coaches from Bibury.
“However, the coaches do not cause damage to the bridge over what would be expected to be dealt with by regular maintenance.”