A lifelong resident has sounded the alarm over the Lake District being swamped by disrespectful tourists who treat the beloved natural area as nothing more than a party venue.
Lake Windermere's shores have long been acquainted with tourism, but in recent times, the surge of visitors is causing irreversible damage to the local community.
Local resident Keysia Mattocks has grown up surrounded by the stunning scenery that the Lake District is so famous for. Now, however, she faces the distressing possibility of being priced out of her own home town by a tourism-fuelled housing crisis.
Mattocks said: "Me and my wife have been renting [our] house for seven years now, [but] the landlord is selling up and trying to find a house around here that will accept three cats is impossible," she explained to the Express. "The places available are like six-month winter lets because they are holiday cottages in the summertime or peak time." READ MORE: Beautiful Greater Manchester village with the best views, charming way of life and award-winning beer garden She continued: "We were looking at [these properties] in desperation, but others were viewing it after us so it must be getting interest.