Angry owners told to clear holiday homes from Shropshire park - with video
Caravan owners have been told they have just weeks to remove their holiday homes from a Shropshire site which some have been on for 30 years.
The blow came when it was revealed the park's new owner was not renewing the site licence.
Residents of Spicers Caravan Park at Spicers Hall Farm, Claverley, say they are furious. They say they have not had enough time, weren't consulted and have spent thousands on their caravans.
New site owner Sought After Location says it is willing to work with residents to make the move as "painless as possible".
The caravan owners are being given the option of towing their caravan to a new site or signing it over to the owners of the park.
Brian Martin, from Wednesbury, has visited his caravan every weekend for the past seven years,. He only found out that he would have to move it at the beginning of this month.
He said that it was bad enough for him to have been told to move his caravan by the middle of April, but said that there were a number of older people who will really struggle.
The 73-year-old said: "What they want us to do is tow the caravan off. We've got no means to do that. It's going to cost £1,500 to have it towed and then you have got to have a site to put it on.
"Alternatively we can sign the caravan over to them but we've paid for a number of new improvements, including a cooker that was £700. We were told we would be been given the statutory amount and that's it.
"Surely we're entitled to compensation. It's bad enough to lose the caravan at all, but to come away with nothing to show for it is wrong. We might be in our right to get a solicitor, but that's more money we have to spend.
"The caravan's a bit old, but it's immaculate inside and out. We've cleaned it out a bit, but we've still got sheds to empty before we sign it over. We spend every spare moment we have in that caravan and now it's all just gone – it's like we don't exist.
"We were given no time to clear out all our things.
"The letter is dated for February but we didn't get it until a few weeks later.
"We feel like we just can't win
"It's awful. One day we've had a letter, the next we're off."
Eileen Prendergast of Sought After Location said the company was accommodating people. "Anybody that has contacted us and said they've needed more time, we've listened and we've given it them.
"We're accommodating people," she said.
"Once we know their circumstances, if we can assist at any time we will.
"We're not heartless.
"We've said that people can take their own caravan.
"If they can't do it, they can sign it over to us. We're giving people time to get their things together before we act.
"The caravans there are very old. Most holiday parks have a requirement that the caravans have to be kept up to date.
"They are very lucky they haven't been asked to renew.
"We are sensitive to people's situations and we will work with them to make sure this as painless as it can be under these circumstances."
Mrs Prendergast said it was too early to say what plans the firm have for the site.
