'It looks like a festival. There was always an element of littering and antisocial behaviour but since the pandemic it has been on an unmanageable scale.'
Illegal wild campers are descending on the Lake District for parties before fly tipping and scorching the earth with BBQs leaving locals to clear up the mess.
Kate, who is a scientific management consultant, is concerned about the environmental, visual and health impacts of the litter and fires.“People don’t care, I think they have lost the connection with the outdoors - you would not litter like this in your own garden.” Together with a friend, Kate filled four rubble sacks, two 65l rucksacks and two carrier bags with the detritus left behind by wild campers. There were tents, camp shares, a double mattress, more than 40 glass and plastic bottles, and two fires which had melted glass.
Kate said she had confronted local kids and groups of men in their twenties before, but the majority of fly campers tended to come from further afield. Kate is chronically ill with lupus, postural tachycardia syndrome and Hashimoto’s disease.Kate does not want to promote "gatekeeping" of the countryside, but rather encourage an emotional connection to the landscape born out of respect. To clampdown on fly camping, Kate believes there should be tougher fines and more patrols.
Outside of designated campsites, the National Trust said wild camping is allowed when permission from a landowner is granted and the site is "above the highest fell wall ".
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