Fury as UK city overrun with 600 ‘van dwellers’ living in cars & caravans dumping ‘eyesore’ mess outside historic boozer

FURIOUS neighbours say an “eyesore” camp of van dwellers occupying the grounds of a historic pub are wreaking havoc and creating mess. Locals claim the boozer has become a magnet for noise, rubbish and rats – with some even saying they avoid walking past it after dark. Locals are furious that van dwellers have moved onto a historic pub’s grounds Credit: SWNS Concerns have been raised about the group occupying the pub Credit: SWNS The vehicles are now parked in the former White Hart Lodge pub on Brislington Hill in Bristol. The city is home to Britain’s biggest van dweller community, with more than 600 people believed to be living in vehicles. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Many were evicted from the well-heeled Clifton Downs by Bristol City Council earlier this year. Some are now said to have joined an existing group of around 15 people who have been living in the former pub’s car park for months. The vehicles are now parked in the former White Hart Lodge pub on Brislington Hill in Bristol Credit: SWNS Around 600 people are believed to be living in vehicles in Bristol Credit: SWNS The council has provided several “Meanwhile Sites” where vehicle dwellers can legally stay with access to water, toilets and waste disposal. But the White Hart site is privately owned and plans have been submitted to turn the former pub into an 80-bed dementia care home. The Grade II-listed building served as a coaching inn for many years before closing as a pub in the early 2000s. It later became home to a theatre school. Most read in The Sun Resident Sally Hartley, 70, said: “The van dwellers have been there since it all kicked off on the Downs. “I don’t understand why these people aren’t going to the sites set up by the council. Do they not want to pay? “We all live together and we have all fallen on hard times but we have to play by the rules. “I recently discovered rats were coming closer to our homes. Local resident John Jones is concerned about the van dwellers living at the White Hart Credit: SWNS The group were recently evicted from the well-heeled Clifton Downs by Bristol City Council earlier this year Credit: SWNS “They keep food down there and have nowhere to put it which is attracting the rats. I saw three at one time.” Neighbour John Jones, 77, said he has watched the once-proud building deteriorate over the past 20 years and hopes work on the approved care home will soon begin. He said: “It is a shame, it was a very nice building and now they seem to be playing a game with the council because nothing has happened. “We would like the people there to leave and we would like the person who owns the building to start work on it. “The van dwellers are unpredictable and I don’t think they have a toilet so where is their waste going? “They keep themselves to themselves but young people do like to have a drink and play music. They get a bit noisy.” Residents Andy and Gill, who live a few doors away, described the site as an “eyesore” and a “mess”. Andy said: “It is slightly unsafe, the windows are smashed in on the site and it makes the whole area look run down and neglected. “If it is dark I avoid it and I presume the people who live even closer than us can’t sell their houses because you would look at that and think ‘Jesus’.” Not everyone shares those concerns. Brislington resident Shaun Good, 49, believes the presence of van dwellers may actually help protect the site. He said: “Having a dwelling group there tends to negate people trying to break in or come onto the site because there is then a group of people on the site. “I have had the assumption that the owner knows it is cheaper than security firms to keep control of the site. It works as its own deterrent. “The latest group that have moved in have been more rowdy than the rest, up until that point we had not really had much in the way of issues.” A Bristol City Council spokesperson said consultation on plans to convert the former pub into a dementia nursing home has recently closed. The council added that the lived-in vehicles are on private land behind the former pub and that it is the responsibility of the landowner to take action if they wish to have them removed