Memories from Tamar Bridge staff in new display
Mr Carter said tolls for motorbikes were scrapped in the late 1970s because "if you saw a motorbike pull up at your booth, you knew you were in for a hold up as he stopped the bike, took off his gloves, gave you a soggy ticket that you couldn't file, and then start back up again, and by then the cars behind were honking their horns".John Austen, who has worked on the bridge for 20 years, said his favourite stories, which he shared for the project, were about the day the Olympic torch was carried across and watched by thousands of people.Community photographer Emma Booth said the project took five or six months to come together."It documents and preserves stories. It's a really valuable tool for the community."In terms of preserving working-class histories, it does exactly that."Hopefully, it will be a bit of an inspiration for people to keep on storytelling."
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
These are the most common holiday scams you need to look out for - and how much money you could LOSE
With the summer holidays in full swing and millions of Brits preparing to head away, there's certain scams tourists keep on falling for. From being overcharged in taxis to making bookings on websites that aren't legit, travellers overseas are often swindled out of money during their trips. Research conducted by Compare the Market has identified the top tricks to look out for, and calculated how much money is at risk. The number one scam that keeps catching holidaymakers is overpriced taxi rides. Almost a third (32 per cent) of travellers fall victim to being charged too much for a lift abroad. Nearly £17 is lost per journey, on average, and it is recommended to book in advance, – through a hotel if possible – to avoid paying the top rate. Another money-draining scam to look out for is street sellers attempting to entice tourists into purchasing fake or inflated products, which places second. This can involve the trader insinuating the item is 'free' but once the tourist accepts it, demands money. Another example is selling products that claim to be real leather or silk, and not being legitimate. Some 20 per cent of holiday-goers surveyed by Compare The Market admitted to falling for the trick, with an average of £17.39 lost each time. The third most common issue is restaurants overcharging and inflating the final bill for a meal. A fifth (18 per cent) of Brits surveyed say they have experienced this and 25% of those hit with an overpriced meal contested it and paid less, However, 54 per cent ended up paying the full amount, and on average lost more £22.58 the last time it happened. Another problem people have faced is fake booking websites swindling tourists out of cash and pretending to be real companies. One in 10 (12 per cent) of holidaymakers have fallen victim to this trick, and have lost an average of £113.30. Phishing scams also cause issues for travellers, ranking fifth, and 11 per cent of those surveyed admitted to clicking on a hoax email before their trip. It can involve a scammer pretending to be a hotel and requesting money from the recipient. The common trick has cost tourists £75 on average. While the sixth most common scam is money exchange tricks, which can happen when a tourist uses an unofficial money exchange service. They can be hit with poor rates, short-changed from a vendor or have their card skimmed by an ATM. One in ten of those surveyed admitted to falling victim to this, losing £28 on average. Travel insurance expert Guy Anker urged holiday-goers to 'remain vigilant' during their travels. He said: 'With nearly one in three (30 per cent) Brits noting an uptick in the number of potential scams they're coming across when travelling abroad, it's more important than ever that holidaymakers remain vigilant to protect themselves against any potential losses. 'The traditional holiday scams are still coming up time and time again, be that overpaying for a taxi or paying inflated prices to street sellers in tourist hot spots. 'The average amounts lost on these are generally smaller, while the amounts lost to phishing attempts and fake booking websites – though less common – are much larger, with some unlucky travellers claiming to have lost thousands. 'There are ways you can protect yourself against travel-related purchases such as paying on a credit card if you can, as it may offer additional protection if something goes wrong with a purchase. 'Travel insurance won't typically cover online fraud, but it is still highly important as it could cover a multitude of other issues.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Travellers invade seaside town: Residents fury a amid reports of fighting, rubbish dumping and dirty nappies thrown in the sea
Residents in a popular seaside town have been left furious by a group of travellers that have 'taken over' the favoured destination. Multiple caravans arrived on the seafront lawns in Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, on 13th July, and for nearly a fortnight have caused 'significant anxiety' and 'issues' for local residents. The travellers have set up camp in a prominent site on the coastal resort, with 15 vehicles parked on the lawns on the South Esplanade near the Sailing Club. While another 10 caravans and vehicles pitched up on the green at Priory Gardens on Tuesday afternoon. Locals and holidaymakers have reported fighting, rubbish dumping and some have even seen dirty nappies being thrown into the sea. Cheryl Boley, a retiree who has lived in the area for 60 years and walks past the occupied parking space every day and said since the travellers moved in she's seen, tyres, fridges and even faeces dumped along the once-beautiful seaside town. Mr Boley, said: 'We are fuming every time this happens. It goes on three or four times every year. 'But what can you do? Weston-super-Mare has put in bollards to stop it, but that's so expensive. 'They leave rubbish behind, tyres, fridges. human waste. 'We've heard they threw nappies over into the sea - we didn't see it ourselves, but with what gets left behind sometimes, it wouldn't be surprising. 'It makes my blood boil. We live by the law. We have a caravan - if we parked it here, we'd be kicked out immediately.' A retired man from Whitebridge, who sails with the local club opposite the camp said he has noticed a spike in vandalism because of infighting among the travellers and revealed he was shocked to see someone smashing a car windscreen. He said: 'I gather the family's had a fight. 'There's a car with its whole windscreen smashed up, and they've parked another car to block it from being towed away. 'Everyone's been watching it from the local pub.' An engineer who lives a mile from the site but takes his young son to play in the area, said the locals have come to expect it and revealed it happens every year. The father-of-two: 'We've lived here the last seven, eight years. Every year they come, they take up somewhere new for a few weeks, they're moved on, they come back. 'I don't know their backgrounds, their history. But I don't think they should be taking up all the parking space, especially in the summer. He added that he no longer feels safe in the town, adding: 'I've seen them letting dogs loose as well. Small dogs, luckily, but it doesn't feel safe - you never know.' Pat Baldock, a retiree who drives in from East Huntspill for a walk in the area each morning, said: 'They come every year, but not usually for as long as this. 'I don't mind if they come for a night or two if they pay for parking on the roads - but it's illegal what they're doing here. 'I usually park right on that road where they're parked for my walk, and I pay for that. I live here, I want to help my local community. 'I'm not angry with them as people. But I'm angry when they stay here and they tear up the gardens. The local confessed they were worried it will encourage others to pitch their caravans and ruin the local area, adding: 'I'm worried, when they get to stay as long as this, that it makes the area seem like an easy place to park up. Then they'll come every spring, every autumn, and think, ooh, look how easy it is to pitch up here. 'And it's lovely here, it's not quite someone's private back garden, is it? No wonder they want to be here.' On Friday a total of nine caravans have remained parked up on the green space of Burnham-on-Sea's south esplanade since July 13 - but some vans have left and come during that time, locals say. The trailers are parked opposite Burnham-on-Sea's motorboat and sailing club, and club members have been watching with interest what one member of the club called 'a family fight' that seems to have broken out amongst the travelling group. Two of the several cars parked by the trailers, which locals walk past to reach the apex of the area's notable sea walk, have smashed windscreens. Locals say they have been told the caravans are expected to be 'moved on' by Saturday. But currently washing lines remain strung out in the sunshine and some members of the group seem to be using the beach's toilet and washing facilities a few hundred metres from the camp. The delay in moving them on has been blasted by local MP Ashley Fox, who said the council's work to initiate legal proceedings had been 'slow.' Mr Fox, has issued a strongly worded statement expressing concern over Somerset Council's handling of the unauthorised encampment. 'I'm extremely concerned by Somerset Council's slow response to yet unauthorised traveller encampment in Burnham-On-Sea,' says the MP Mr Fox. 'The group arrived on 13th July, yet I learned the Council won't even go before a judge to start the eviction process until 25th July. That's 12 days of delay and it's simply not acceptable.' He adds: 'People in Burnham are rightly frustrated. These incidents keep happening and too often, the response from the Council is far too slow. Our local traders rely on the summer season to make a living, and they deserve better than this.' 'Rather than striving to serve the public, Somerset Council give the impression of trying to get away with doing as little as possible. They are slow and unresponsive.' Somerset Council's Lead Member for Communities, Housing Revenue Account, Culture and Equalities, Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts said: 'Our team, in collaboration with the police, acts at the earliest opportunity when an unauthorised encampment is reported and treats the matter with urgency to ensure the legal process is set in motion. 'However this is a nationally established procedure with the legal system at the centre, and just like any other local authority the Council has to work within the time frame prescribed by legislation and scheduling of the Courts.' 'After liaising with Police, the Council officer in charge of the operation issued a Formal Notice to Leave (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 section. 77) on 15 July, at the earliest opportunity after relevant forms are completed.' 'The Council then listed its application to the Magistrates Court - the earliest date available for a hearing is 25 July. If the Council is successful, the Court will issue an Order to be served on the encampment. 'For any non-compliance with the Order, the Council will be required to engage with bailiffs to initiate eviction proceedings, this can add further delays before control of the land is again obtained. 'We share people's frustration regarding the process and we would be happy to liaise with the MP to lobby Government to work with the legal system on measures to allow these situations to be dealt with more quickly.'
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
I'm sleeping in a caravan so I can put my cottage on Airbnb
I am writing this by candlelight at the wobbly knee-high desk of a caravan situated in my friend's backyard. There is no electricity, no water and no toilet, so I have to use an old outside one. I am running a wi-fi hotspot off my phone. As the light fades I'll be forced to bed by 9pm, in an old sleeping bag I'm sharing with my dog, where I'll fall asleep dreaming of my lovely cottage — where I have my own toilet, my own bed and my own office, with an ergonomic chair in it. I am spending the week in this absurd set-up not because I fancied a cheap off-grid escape (although using an outdoor loo is a novelty) but because I've rented my Somerset cottage out, like other mad middle-class people across the country this summer. In tourist hotspots families are fleeing to cash in on visitors, making themselves Airbnb-homeless and performing accommodation gymnastics as they look for somewhere to stay themselves. As Airbnb has become ubiquitous — not to mention the source of anger over overtourism and second homes — so it has spawned another trend among a squeezed middle class looking for extra cash to pay climbing mortgages. When I was hoping to move to Cornwall I viewed one farmhouse with a long stretch of garden where, the estate agent explained, the owner erected a tent every summer to make thousands a week from renting the house. He didn't say quite what the Americans who rented it made of looking out to see the homeowner sleeping under canvas. • 'First-time buyers want cheaper homes — not bigger mortgages' A friend with a house on the coast sleeps in her car over summer, parking down lanes and showering at the gym because she can make thousands a week from renting her pretty cottage to tourists. Others go to crash with their parents or sleep on friends' sofas. I will be rotating between friends across the country who are happy to put me up on their sofas or in their spare rooms in exchange for some extra childcare during the holidays. As well as coming back and forth to the off-grid caravan, I'll be borrowing a tent for week or travelling whenever I can. After all, if I can make a rental of my own cottage coincide with my holiday, I'll have covered the cost of it. A family I know in Gloucestershire with a large beautiful house that rents for more than £400 a night take themselves off to a single hotel room for a week when they rent it. Another very wealthy family I've heard about, with a gorgeous old manor house in Devon that they lease to tourists for thousands during peak summer season, stay with their rather less wealthy relatives, relocating their pedigree dogs and custom Land Rovers to a council house in the suburbs. • Stick or twist — should you sit tight or buy a home now? I have heard about a woman who moves to a cramped new-build around the corner from her Instagram-gorgeous north London cottage when she lets it out over the summer, and another with a stunning East End townhouse she vacates to sofa-surf with friends. Ophelia, a photographer, has spent summers renting out her flat in Hackney while she goes back to her mum's in Suffolk, often popping back to London for work on day trips or hauling her things across town. 'I remember I stayed with one of my friends around the corner once while I rented my flat out in Hackney, dragging my clothes and all my photography equipment down eight flights of stairs so I could crash on her sofa for a week,' she says. The playwright P Burton-Morgan is renting out the family home in rural Somerset for three weeks back-to-back over summer to fund a forthcoming theatre tour. The plan is sofa-surfing between different friends, family and even former parents-in-law to make it work. 'It's a precarious juggle of friends with kids doing sleepover swaps, generous family members and then people we vaguely know who seem sympathetic. I try to rotate between friends so no one gets too bored with us. And find ways to reciprocate, like doing some gardening. Parents in the creative industries have always scrabbled around in this kind of gift-economy way, it's just more of that dialled up a notch. We'll probably run out of willing hosts soon, but while it's still sunny there's always camping. • Why landlords are now in the market for holiday lets 'I am in the process of converting my shed so I can sleep in it and rent out the house. You just go, 'At what point is the tail wagging the dog?'' Others agree that the fallout of Airbnbing the family home isn't always worth it. 'It was a nightmare,' one person tells me, recounting how they rented out their beautiful home to a group who threw a huge party. 'The neighbours complained, they left empty bottles of booze everywhere and vomit in the children's bedrooms.' Once Ophelia rented her spare room to a man 'who thought I had gone out for the night, so I came back to find him in the sitting room sleeping with a girl'. And then there's the toll on those friends you beg, borrow and steal from. A friend tells me of the time a couple they knew offered to house-sit while they were on holiday. It was only later that it transpired they had invited their extended family along too — all while making a quick buck renting out their own home. When the candles run out in the caravan, I will have to stop writing and instead spend the evening pining for my home, reminding myself that, for all the inconvenience, I'm one of the lucky ones.
