A picturesque English village has been forced to install fencing to keep foreign tourists from paddling in a river, and despairing locals say they are being driven out by the hordes of selfish visitors.
Bibury in the Cotswolds is home to just 600 people, but many now say they are leaving due to the inconsiderate behaviour of tourists, mainly from China, Korea, Japan and India, who trespass on their property, set up picnic chairs in the River Coln, and leave rubbish everywhere.
Residents say the problem has worsened due to social media influencers and since Bibury was voted the most beautiful village in the world by Forbes last year, with up 20,000 tourists a day now arriving in peak times, clogging up the roads with coaches.
Craig Chapman, chair of Bibury Parish Council, told BBC News the decision to put up fencing was a “drastic measure”, but needed to be done to protect the river’s swans, ducks, voles and fish.
“In the hot weather over the summer tourists were sitting on the riverbank with their feet in the river, walking in the river and even setting up tables and chairs in the river, that’s highly detrimental to the wildlife,” he said.
Another local, Victoria Summerley, 70, who has called Bibury home for 14 years, said the Coln was a trout stream and “supposed to be a really clean river”.
“The amount of litter that ends up in the river in terms of drinks, bottles, coffee cups and so on, just unbelievable,” she said.
Brian and Jill Skarda wrote in the village newsletter that they were leaving the village, also after 14 years, because of “door banging, window peeping and general interference in our private lives” from foreign tourists.
“This is a beautiful village and, sadly, it is being ruined by the very people who come to see it,” Mr Skarda said.
Claire Perrin, 64, said she was also considering leaving, and called the situation “crazy”.
“We just feel like it’s not going to change because it’s the age of Instagram. It makes you question staying here,” she said.
Kris Watts, 71, said the crowds were so bad she no longer went into the village on weekends.
“We knew it was a touristy village when we moved here, but since Covid it’s just got worse and worse,” she said
“A big part of it is social media influencers advertising how beautiful the village is.”
Header image: Left, tourists sitting the river (supplied). Right, crowds in the village (Instagram).
