LIFE in an idyllic rural village has turned into “absolute hell” for locals after swarms of inconsiderate TikTok tourists have forced them into hiding.
Villagers claim strangers urinate in the street, and spit and swear at them, leaving many scared to go outside.
SuppliedOverflowing bins in Bourton-on-Water in Gloucestershire – with locals complaining they’re left to clean-up[/caption]
David HartleyA group take photos from the edge of the river[/caption]
David HartleyA couple are snapped in front of the village sign[/caption]
Bourton-on-the-Water, in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, is home to just 4,000 people, but is ill-equipped to manage the “horrendous” number of daily arrivals.
With some 300,000 tourists venturing over every year, locals say they have been pushed off their own high street by hordes of day trippers who bring litter, congestion and chaos.
The village green and grass verges are trampled and ruined, often being used for BBQs and picnics – while locals say some tourists even ask to use their toilet and what time the area is open until, as if it’s a theme park.
Shopkeepers and other business owners are encouraging what one councillor has dubbed “fast tourism” in a bid to maximise profits – but its left them in a stalemate with locals.
Yeah, it’s the Venice of the Cotswolds, it stinks, and it’s got a canal running through it.
Kathleen
One fed-up resident told The Sun during our visit this week she’s finally decided to up-sticks and move.
Kathleen, who has lived in Bourton for 35 years, said she was “too terrified” of reprisals from neighbours and local shopkeepers to give her full name.
She has reached breaking point after suffering for years under the boot of gaggles of “extremely disrespectful” tourists ferried in by the bus load from London‘s airports.
Kathleen, who has worked in various shops in the village, told horror stories of rude tourists calling her a “b***h”, urinating in the street, spitting at her, and abusing her on a daily basis.
She said: “Yeah, it’s the Venice of the Cotswolds, it stinks, and it’s got a canal running through it.
“New people move here and they think ‘oh, it’s lovely, we’re on holiday every day’ and three years down the line they’re like us and they want out.
“I’ve been called things that my mother would slap my face for, it breaks my heart because it used to be a lovely place to live.
“It’s oversubscribed completely, people are coming home from work and finding tourists in their garden.
“They have no concept of privacy, they have the cheek to ask to use the lavatory.
“They leave their brain cells behind when they come to Bourton, they treat it like some wacky kind of theme park.
“I’ve been asked what time the nature opens and what time the village closes. They ask what happens when everybody goes home.”
‘This isn’t Disneyland’
Romanticised on social media, Bourton has become a “Disneyland” to thousands of visitors who treat it as nothing more than an attraction to visit, snap a pic of for social media, and leave.
Kathleen said that after a local cafe made a TikTok video advertising a special Christmas hot chocolate, with froth shaped like a snowman, things deteriorated again.
Swarms of people showed up to try the festive drink and snap pictures with it on Bourton’s low stone bridges.
Change.orgThe rubbish reportedly also washes into the river[/caption]
David HartleyResident Gemma Wingrove says she and her daughter often litter pick on an evening[/caption]
David HartleyGary Smith said the village is ‘absolute hell’ in the summer months[/caption]
Kathleen said: “The world’s gone mad. We get people coming down just for a special coffee and they stand on the bridge and take a photo, then leave.”
She stressed: “We’ve always been busy, we don’t begrudge them a day out.”
But added: “We’ve been made extremely uncomfortable.”
Locals are crying out that enough is enough, they desperately want their guests to recognise that “this is not a theme park, it’s people’s lives”.
An unspoken rule amongst residents states “don’t go into the village between 9.30 and 5”, we were told.
‘It’s absolutely insane’
Gemma Wingrove, 48, has lived in Bourton for six years, and she recently launched a petition calling for the over-toursim to be addressed.
Standing on the banks of the Windrush river, which runs under the village’s bridges, she told The Sun: “It’s absolutely insane, there’s not a lot of rudeness but there is a lack of consideration.”
Gemma said day-to-day life, including going for medical appointments, becomes almost impossible at certain points of the year – and many locals won’t let their children play out in the middle of the village.
She said visitors brazenly flaunt traffic regulations, coach drivers bringing them in by the bus load ignore the restrictions put in place by the council, and tourists stop on road bridges to snap pictures for their Instagram pages.
Serious concerns have been raised around safety, with police and parking authorities rarely present, and the village high street now a dangerous free-for-all.
David HartleyThe village sits in the north Cotswolds, and dates back to the 17th Century[/caption]
David HartleyMichelle Bayliss is among the locals calling for changes[/caption]
David HartleyPeople sit along the river in the afternoon sun[/caption]
Gemma said: “Because we’re so rural the police aren’t coming out.”
Referring to the flouting of the traffic restrictions, she added: “Our feeling is nothing is going to happen until somebody gets killed or injured.”
Gemma said older residents are “really panicked” and it doesn’t surprise her why many locals avoid the high street completely.
“Decisions aren’t being made that balance everybody’s voice, certainly on Facebook, it’s gotten very toxic”, she said.
“After the summer, we just had lots of people who want something to change.”
Our feeling is nothing is going to happen until somebody gets killed or injured.
Gemma Wingrove
One local, who has called Bourton home for 74 years, told The Sun it’s very unnerving the way many tourists don’t seem to believe it is a village where people live.
They said, due to using a walking stick, they don’t feel safe going over the bridges out of fear a TikToker will buffet them into the water with little care.
Ruth Manning, 89, who was born in Bourton and has lived there all her life, said tourists “exploit our village for clicks”.
She explained: “Ever since lockdown it’s gotten worse, absolutely inconsiderate, you can say ‘excuse me’ a thousand times and they don’t listen. I swear I could push them into the river.
“They are rude, they’ve banged on my car before. It’s photographs, that’s the thing now, it’s a wonder children don’t get run over.
SuppliedLocals say they have to spend hours cleaning up litter[/caption]
David HartleyA couple take pictures of the views while on a dog walk[/caption]
GettyHuge crowds of visitors continue to arrive in Bourton every year[/caption]
“I think all the locals do their shopping early in the morning so they don’t get involved.”
Gary Smith, 65, who’s had a similar experience, said: “It’s absolutely hell in summer, the tourists look at you like you shouldn’t be there, the day trip has really just invaded.
“My biggest bug bear is the coaches blocking the road.”
Locals now tend to hideout in their homes until crowds for the day have died down – but they then find the green and paths trashed and trampled.
It is often left to townsfolk to clean things up, but then the next day’s batch means the process starts all over again.
The Sun has been told a heroic woman regularly single-handedly cleans the entire village almost every evening.
Gemma also spoke about her and her daughter undertaking litter picking, including rubbish from the river.
John Waering, ward councillor for Bourton village on the Cotswold district council, has been battling to save the town from the scourge of what he calls “fast tourism”.
He said: “It’s heartbreaking hearing what people have to put up with.”
Referring to the trashed green, John added: “We call it the village green but really it’s the village brown because there’s no grass left.”
Like most locals, John doesn’t want to stop tourism – “that would be ludicrous” he said – but he does want to see it properly and sustainably managed.
“It’s how we manage it, is it appropriate to have picnics on a piece of land that was given in trust to the villagers who now can’t enjoy the green?” the councillor explained.
John added: “I’m optimistic. I think there is a way forward but we have to recognise the problem, get aligned and think differently.
I’m optimistic. I think there is a way forward but we have to recognise the problem, get aligned and think differently.
John Waering
“We live in an age where a lot of people are creating content and that drives a lot of footfall, generally during the middle of the day through the afternoon it can be quite difficult to cross the bridges because of people taking pictures.
“Some of this picture-taking can be quite intrusive, we’re not a theme park we’re real people with real lives.
“People who live in sight of the river have to plan their day around traffic, in terms of normal life people like to go for a coffee but they dont go for a coffee in the village.
“My concern with fast tourism is the damage to the social fabric of the village.
“That sort of normal sense of community is denied to people living in Bourton.
“No one wants to stop tourism, that would be ludicrous, but we want a sort of sustainable approach.”
“The experience during summer is like Notting Hill carnival every day,” John added.
SWNSTwo people pose for photos on the village green[/caption]
SWNSA woman poses for the camera[/caption]
The need for official intervention and proper planning is evident he says, with locals being left to fend for themselves becoming dangerous.
Most residents are forced to deal with issues around parking, traffic management, litter, anti-social behaviour and abuse without the help of the authorities, he said.
On a day to day basis, Bourton’s villagers feel their “lived experience is being denied”, John said, adding there are serious “mental health problems because of that”.
He said: “There is a lady who in a completely independent way is doing a great job, street cleaning has health and safety issues around it.
“What worries me is the risk that she might be putting herself in – the official street cleaners report abuse, its not just residents who get negative behaviour from visitors.
“That’s also an appalling thing that the people cleaning up after visitors are getting abused.”
He added: “It’s heartbreaking reading what people have to put up with.
“People shouldn’t have to live like this, it is a lack of respect, some of it is just frankly outrageous.
“The physical threats of violence that I’ve heard of, it beggars belief that somebody would be threatened with violence for asking ‘sorry I’m trying to get through’.
“There’s a decent elderly community, not all of whom have perfect mobility, they are similarly constrained, you can barely move on the high street, as I said it’s just a lack of consideration.”
John said there are instances of ambulances struggling to get through to help people with health emergencies.
He is calling for a review of how tourism is managed in the village, and was left “deeply frustrated” when the parish council rejected his motion for over-tourism.
“It’s complex, it’s going to take time and what we need first and foremost is some independent expertise to analyse it and come up with solutions,” he said.
When approached by the Sun for comment, Bourton Parish Council pointed us to a recent notice posted on its website about the “actions being taken to address the growing impact of tourism”.
It said: “We recognise that the increased visitor numbers this year have placed significant pressure not only on the village centre but also on surrounding residential and commercial areas.
“While tourism brings economic benefits, it also presents challenges that require coordinated and sustained efforts to be
managed effectively.
“The Parish Council has limited statutory powers, but we are actively engaging with Cotswold District Council (CDC), Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), and other relevant bodies to advocate for our
community’s needs and concerns.”
Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, Cabinet Member for Health, Leisure, and Visitor Experience for CDC, said: “Due to the record breaking dry and warm weather there has been an increase in visitor numbers across the Cotswolds this summer.
“The noticeable uptick in footfall has led to greater pressure on litter and waste collections, traffic, and parking.
“We know that residents have had to put up with a lot this summer and that’s why we’re working closely with Bourton Parish Council and Gloucestershire Highways to manage the impact.
“A tourism levy from one car park funds a village warden, additional parking enforcement, maintenance of the village green, and other local projects.
“To ease congestion, Gloucestershire Highways has introduced a coach drop-off/pick-up point, with parking redirected to an industrial site outside the village, currently on trial. We’ve also increased bin collections to help tackle litter.
“We will continue to work with local people to make improvements to the village.”
Gloucestershire Police said: “Bourton-on-the-Water is a busy tourist spot with a low crime rate and our dedicated neighbourhood team patrol the village when resources allow to provide reassurance to residents and visitors.
“We are committed to keeping everyone safe and we work closely with our council partners to ensure that the village is a pleasant and enjoyable place to live, work and visit.
“We have not received any recent reports of threats of violence or abuse directed towards members of the community by visitors, but take incidents of this nature seriously.
“We would always encourage people to report any incidents to us.”
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