'Tourists have made our village unliveable - I’m seriously considering moving'

Bibury, once celebrated as one of the UK’s most picturesque villages, has become a nightmare for its residents. The surge in tourism has transformed this serene Cotswolds village into a chaotic hotspot, pushing some locals to the brink of leaving their homes.

One long-time resident, who has lived in Bibury for nearly 20 years, is now seriously considering moving due to the relentless influx of tourists.

"It’s such a shame because we’re such a rural village, we’re not geared up for this many people. None of us get any benefit from it," she shared.

"Our roads don’t get repaired, and as residents, we see our own private boundaries get destroyed by visitors taking pictures. We know that repairs will only happen if we pay out of our own pockets."

The resident’s frustration reached a boiling point recently when a confrontation with a tourist took a shocking turn.

She recalled: "At the weekend, a man started hurling abuse at my son and husband as we were innocently walking home.

He had parked on a double yellow line, and when we pointed this out, he began shouting obscenities at us, calling us 'posh snobs' and even threatening to punch my husband. We were so astonished, and it made me question if I wanted to live in this village anymore."

For many of the village’s 600 residents, these encounters are part of a larger problem. Bibury’s popularity has skyrocketed, even ranking as the prettiest village in the world. The village’s iconic Arlington Row is a big part of this success, with pictures widely shared on social media during and post-lockdown.

The anonymous resident even shared that some individuals had even trespassed on her property.

She added: "I’m very fortunate to have a driveway, but we often get tourists who think it’s okay to walk up it, peer into our windows, and even take photoshoots in our garden.

"One day, a whole coach party did just that while I was in my dressing gown having tea. Before they left, one of them even had the cheek to urinate on our garden wall.”

On busy weekends, the village can see up to 20,000 visitors, leading to clogged roads, parking nightmares, and, as seen in the resident's account, shocking confrontations.

"They think they’ve arrived in a theme park, and that they can wander around and peer into people’s windows like it’s Disneyland," she said. "They don’t understand that people live here, and this is a small rural village that just gets completely swamped by tourists."

The situation has become so unbearable that the resident and her family are seriously considering moving.

"If the coaches get banned, that will help hugely, but if things don’t get better, we will have to think about moving. The majority of us don’t want to walk around the village between 9am and 4pm because it’s hell."

Mark Honeyball, chair of the Bibury Parking and Traffic Reporting group, echoed the resident’s concerns.

He said previously: "It was peaceful and quiet once, but now thousands of tourists come on a daily basis. Up to 80 coaches try to navigate the narrow lanes, sometimes blocking emergency vehicles. The influx has even damaged a historic bridge in the village."

Local authorities are exploring solutions, including a park-and-ride system, but the challenging terrain makes it difficult to implement. An alternative plan involves a hub outside the village, where tourists could be ferried in by minivans, but this would require significant investment.

For now, the residents of Bibury are left to cope with the daily disruption and the growing sense of unease that comes with living in what has become an over-commercialised tourist hotspot.

"It’s such a pretty village that’s been spoiled", the resident shared. "It used to be so unspoiled, but now it’s overrun, and the community that once thrived here is being eroded by the constant invasion of tourists."