Despite its stunning beach, beautiful tree forest and gorgeous nature reserve, some residents have claimed a coastal down is a "nightmare" as soon as the sun comes out.
Formby, on the Sefton coast in Merseyside, has seen its popularity massively increase since the pandemic and it now attracts day trippers from far and wide.
According to locals, hot days now bring unwelcome side effects which include parking "mayhem", gridlock on the roads, disgusting waste such as nappies or bags of poo, and general chaos.
Police had to guard the entrance of a shut National Trust car park during the last heatwave in July, reports the Echo.
And a Public Space Protection Order had to be introduced along the Sefton coast last month to stop barbecues, camp fires and drinking, reports LancashireLive.
Sheila Leathley, who has worked at M&Co on Chapel Lane for ten years, said: “Formby is a really nice community. It's a shame some of the shops have closed but it’s the sort of place you come out for a day; it’s a destination and we feel really privileged to work here; it’s just a lovely place.
“ A lot of people come on holiday and lots of people come in, staying in the caravan park there, so it’s like, come to Formby to do a bit of shopping and have lunch and see the red squirrels and relax.”
Amanda Locke, 27, who works at micropub The Tin Shed on Brows Lane agrees, although she has reservations about the village’s surging popularity.
She says: “I think Formby is lovely; I really like it here as it feels safe. It's really changed over the last couple of years as it's getting busier and it's harder to get appointments.
“I'm a teacher - getting out of Formby in the morning is hard. It's a lovely place to live and it is handy for the beach.
"I've recently married - I would like my children to grow up in Formby like I have - but the houses are expensive here.“
House prices in Formby are indeed high, with the average property selling for an overall average price of £359,681 over the last year.
Yet far from the madding crowd, property sells for even more eye watering proportions, since Formby plays host to a fair few of the great and the good who reside on Victoria Road, dubbed ‘Millionaire’s Row,’ where mega mansions are valued at over £1m.
Traffic cones sit on double yellow lines on Victoria Road leading up to the National Trust entrance, while what appears to be an unobtrusive CCTV camera high above the pavement also peers down.
But such measures, while welcome, are simply not enough, say locals, who list a seemingly incessant array of unpleasant grievances, such as being trapped in their own homes due to parked cars when the sun comes out.
One Formby resident who wishes to remain anonymous said: “The National Trust has put the cones out to assist local residents.
"Last time there was a heatwave here, we had more than 20 cars and they were parking on double yellow lines and accepting tickets. 35 quid they see as a reasonable deal for a day at the beach.
“There needs to be a radical rethink - something along the lines of out of town parking where the infrastructure can accommodate it, so that people can get in and out to the beach, or a big car park with access to the beach.
"Something has got to change - the National Trust has been reasonably proactive, but somebody has to come up with a more radical solution than currently exists.
"The infrastructure cannot accommodate the number of visitors that flood into this town - something has to give.
“They park on people’s drives, they block people in, and mayhem results."
Another local, who again, wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said: “We have eight thousand cars coming here.
"It’s a nightmare for the residents, when you can’t move in and out because people are double parked, and cars are flooding in. They’ve left dirty nappies, bags full of faeces, used sanitary products; all these have been found.”
Yet others are resigned to the chaos when the sun comes out.
Another resident, who again felt too intimidated to be named, said: “Learn to live with it - if it’s going to be nice, either go out or stay out but you know what, it’s going to be hot, so work around it.
“Saying that, it is quite surprising the way some visitors act, it’s almost as if they think, it’s a nice place so we will be as nasty as possible. I’ve found dirty nappies, and broken bottles.
“To be honest, it’s not even a nice beach as it’s covered in bricks at the moment, but it’s almost as if it’s the place to go, and it became like that when the lockdown happened, that first hot weekend after that was incredible. In the middle of a heatwave, it’s a nightmare.
“It gets really busy and they park on both sides of the road. People feel a bit intimidated, but you know what, it’s just a few weekends when the weather is hot."
Formby became a magnet for visitors from far and wide during the lockdowns, according to Bob McCann, chairman of Formby Parish Council.
He said at one point in 2020, it had been ‘‘absolute bedlam", with residents "barricaded in their own houses".
He said: “It’s not as bad at the moment, because people can go elsewhere, but you still get a lot of people coming here on hot days.
"Formby isn’t geared up for it; we’re not a destination place, we’re just a town that just happens to have a squirrel reserve and some woods.
"We don’t have the facilities or the infrastructure to accommodate thousands of cars; we don’t have massive car parks or good road infrastructure, so it’s almost as if Formby is a victim of its own success."
A spokesperson for the National Trust said: "There's no quick fix to the challenges of busy days at Formby.
"That's why we're working with local partners and listening to feedback from visitors and the local community, proactively looking for solutions that work for people and help to protect Formby's wildlife. We work with partners including the police, council, and Sefton Coast Landscape Partnership to do this.
"Our team at National Trust Formby are working hard to maintain facilities, keep the site clean and litter free."
Sefton Community Policing Sergeant Nathaniel Leach said: “We know that the overwhelming majority of visitors who visit our beauty spots will do so responsibly and safely.
"Unfortunately, a minority of people will come to the beach and act in an anti-social manner. We are clear that we will not tolerate anti-social behaviour, underage drinking, drug taking and other issues that could have a detrimental impact on other people visiting as well as local residents.
“I want to reassure those affected that we work with our partners to prevent such incidents from occurring so that your own enjoyment of the area is not spoiled by an ignorant minority."
A spokesperson for Sefton Council urged people to plan journeys to avoid traffic queues and disruption for local residents, and said the region’s beaches were in easy walking distance from Merseyrail stations such as Southport, Birkdale, Hillside, Ainsdale, Freshfield and Formby, among others.
