Caravan owners are taking their council to court after they were told their vans were too old to be on the site, leaving them to potentially lose thousands of pounds by either moving, scrapping or selling their vans.
A group of 106 furious caravan owners at Kingfisher Caravan Park on the Lincolnshire Coast are taking East Lindsey District Council to court over the decision.
Among the group are caravan owners from Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham who are desperate to save their beloved vans.
The group claims the council informed residents on the Ingoldmells site in October 2019 of a change in the contract that meant caravans 20 years or older could not be there, YorkshireLive reports.
The deadline was initially pushed back for the vans to be removed because of the pandemic but now the group says they have until the end of the year to move them.
The caravan owners are taking the council to court after any attempt at mediation failed.
Stuart Allen and his wife, from Sheffield, have six vans on the site and say that they stand to lose hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The 52-year-old, who is now representing the group, told YorkshireLve: "My wife and I own six caravans on the site.
"In 2017 the council decided to introduce changes to age limits for vans. At the time people on the site were looking for somebody to coordinate them and move them forward.
"Due to my background and work in commercial contracts and law, I decided to do that. Anyway, we fought back and in the end, the council decided not to make the changes after all."
Three weeks before the end of the 2019 season, the council decided to bring in the rule again and gave the owners a year to think about it.
Since then, more than 300 owners and caravans have been removed from the 726 pitch site.
Stuart added: "I know people who sold vans for £3,000 to local sites who then sold them on for £15,000. That is the sort of money that people are losing.
"For many people, it is their holiday home. A place they enjoy coming to and a site they love. They keep their vans well and this is what they can afford to do.
"Ingoldmells is a hugely popular spot for people visiting from Yorkshire. We just decided to fight back as they can't do this to us."
Stuart says that he has been left with "no option" in taking the council to court after the most recent attempt at mediation last month failed.
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He added: "This decision has just absolutely decimated the site, out of 726 pitches only 380 are now occupied.
"A lot of people decided to just leave as they didn't want to be at the site anymore.
"The site is central Ingoldmells and most people who stay here are from Rotherham, Sheffield and Barnsley and they can't afford to pay big prices.
"They rely on private renters, like the ones on this site, to be able to afford to come, and not pay the big name prices."
Stuart says he will be submitting papers against the council to court and hopes that should be enough to stop the council from enforcing the contract change when the deadline comes. He says he will submit an injunction against the council if they try to enforce it at that stage.
He added that the cost of the court action could rise to around £60,000 - with the group having already spent £30,000.
Stuart says that if he had to sell or get rid of his six vans he would lose in the region of £100,000.
A spokesperson for East Lindsey District Council said the site generates over £1million in income each year and they are committed to investing and improving the site for their licensees and visitors.
They said: "In order for us to ensure the Park continues to be successful into the future the site requires changes. In 2019 we made an alteration to licence conditions that saw the introduction of a 20-year age limit on caravans.
"Whilst this has reduced site income in the short term, the change that is being implemented is positioning the Park so it can operate a more commercial model in the future.
"Like many other caravan sites on the coast when caravans sited at the Park reach the 20 year age limit in place, owners can either upgrade their caravan or move their van to another site.
"The changes being made at the Park are about ensuring its longer-term success and enabling investors to be made, whilst generating profits that fund services that are of value to our residents."
