We’ve been left to rot in Britain’s ‘Caravan City’ – it’s covered in rubbish but we can’t afford rent
PEOPLE forced to live in the UK’s “Caravan City” claim they have been left to rot and are drowning in rubbish because they can’t afford pricey rents.
Static homes line the roads and residents claim they have even found human waste in the street as deprivation consumes the area.
Dozens of caravans are parked up amid residential areas in Bristol as the rocketing cost of living squeezes household budgets.
Many of the people living in them say they have lost everything and now often have to live in tiny motors just to stay off the streets.
The makeshift homes often don’t have working plumbing, running water or heating, leaving their inhabitants vulnerable and devastating the area.
Some residents have to use buckets for loos, while others have even put up homemade signs to try and ward off fly-tippers who blight the back alleys.
One local, who has seen encampments pop up near her home, told YouTuber JoeFish of the extent of the problem.
She said: “I didn’t mind them being there.
“But up the back alley was poo with toilet paper at various intervals along the way.
“I think if you’re a caravaner you just go where there’s space, it doesn’t seem to be controlled.
“But it’s better than people living on the street.
“It’s a very bad situation, the rents are terrible.”
Indeed, Bristol is the second most expensive city for renters in England, behind only London.
Joe also spoke to Martin, who lives in what is effectively a garden shed on wheels in the city.
He explained that he spent his last penny on the van after losing his job, home and partner all in one year.
Giving Joe a tour around, he said there was a “nice little community” of van lifers, but admitted her found the lack of any sanitation difficult.
Martin’s bed took up most of the single room and was built on plywood boards with a thin blanket over the top.
The only other things he had were a small table where he stored food, a rubbish bag hanging from the wall and a bucket to use as a loo.
Joe added: “We’re barely scratching the surface.
“There are rows and rows of caravans, as far as the eye can see.”
It comes after The Sun visited the sites, with locals saying they “no longer feel safe” in the area/
Meanwhile, experts fear a “summer of death” in deprived communities thanks to a drug which can kill with a dose the size of a “grain of sand”.
