'Piece of paradise' caravan park that's 'nothing like Haven or Pontins'

Generations of families have returned to the same beauty spot along the coast, known as a “piece of paradise”. Since the early 1980s Freshfield Caravan Park on Victorian Road in Formby has welcomed visitors.

It opened as a seasonal holiday caravan park on land leased from the National Trust, the Liverpool Echo reports. However, in March 2022, 60 people who have static caravans on the site were banned from staying there for more than a year following a ruling by Natural England.

It means that sand that has drifted across the access road into the caravan park from the surrounding sand dunes can no longer be cleared “due to the negative impacts this would have on the dunes and its biodiversity". The National Trust said at the time: "Without the consent from Natural England to clear the access road or an alternative location for the caravan park to be moved to at National Trust Formby, it is our belief that there is no other option but to close the site.”

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But following the ECHO’s report on the news earlier this year, caravan owners have now been able to return to the site for the summer via pedestrian access, as they continue to fight for its future. Here’s what the current owners have to say about why Freshfield is so special.

Clare Shipway, 36, whose parents Jack Downham and Eileen Stokes are directors of the caravan park, told the ECHO: "We're allowed to use the site and stay overnight now. They didn't really give a reason why they suddenly had a change of heart.

"It means absolutely everything to me, even more so because we've got another baby now - she's nine months old and she's been able to come down.

"We've been able