Poo, parking and poor pitching – the Lake District’s summer battles

Millions of people visit the Lake District every year, but not all of them abide by the Countryside Code’s plea to “leave no trace”. It means for enforcement officers and volunteers, summer is often marked by irresponsible parking, inconsiderate camping and even human waste – which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as the Summer of Love.

“Fifty-plus members of the public engaged with, 10 overnight campers spoken to, eight bags of rubbish collected and they had the joy of seeing one man using a bush as his toilet,” reads out Judith Derbyshire, a Westmorland and Furness councillor.

It is an extract from a report by patrol officers responsible for tackling anti-social behaviour, who were out in the Coniston area one weekend in July.

“I’m going to lower the standard of the conversation here but the issue is to do with human poo,” says Derbyshire, although she might have used slightly more colourful language.

She is responsible for community safety at the Liberal Democrat-led council and says since Covid there has been a surge in visitors who arrive without plans for accommodation, meaning fly-camping is rife.

Fly-camping takes place away from designated camp sites and without landowners’ permission.

“Don’t feel you can just come up, park up on a lay-by and then go and put a tent up down by the lake shore – you shouldn’t be doing that,” she says.