Fly-camping, litter and problem parking put pressure on the Lake District

BBC News reported over the summer on the challenges facing councils, police, landowners and volunteers as they try to protect some of the country’s most popular beauty spots from anti-social and irresponsible behaviour.

In the Coniston area, one weekend patrol reportedly spoke to more than 50 members of the public and 10 overnight campers, while officers collected eight bags of rubbish. They also encountered someone using a bush as a toilet.

Westmorland and Furness councillor Judith Derbyshire told the BBC that so-called “fly-camping” – camping away from designated sites without the landowner’s permission – had become a particular problem since the Covid pandemic.

The consequences can extend well beyond abandoned tents and litter. There have been reports of visitors cutting branches and damaging trees to make fires, including an incident in which a fire was lit inside the hollow of a large oak tree near Ullswater.

Councils and Cumbria Police can use Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) to tackle certain forms of anti-social behaviour, including requiring people to leave an area or issuing fines. However, enforcement is generally treated as a last resort, with officers initially seeking to engage with and educate visitors.

Resources are also limited. Derbyshire said the council has relatively few officers and cannot provide a round-the-clock response.

Problem parking presents another challenge. Cars left in inappropriate places can block farm gates, passing places and narrow roads. At particularly busy times, buses have reportedly been cancelled because parked vehicles have prevented them from getting through.

Cumberland Council has warned that the consequences could be more serious if obstructive parking prevents emergency vehicles reaching an incident.

With enforcement teams covering large areas, information from people on the ground can be particularly important. Residents and visitors are being encouraged to report problems rather than confronting those responsible themselves.

Friends of the Lake District have also been tracking this on the ground. Through their annual litter surveys (opens external site), they have given residents and visitors a way to say what they are seeing - litter, irresponsible camping, fires and related antisocial behaviour - and have used that evidence to press visitor-management partners for sustained action, not just a busy-weekend crackdown.

That kind of public picture is exactly what makes a pattern harder to ignore; the challenge is then turning survey findings into one shared record that the council, the Park, landowners and police can act on together.