The former spa village welcoming winter 'campers'

A charity-run campsite which provides self-contained overnight parking for motorhomes during the winter is backing a campaign to promote year-round tourism.

Jubilee Park in Woodhall Spa opened its regular campsite as a European-style Aire during lockdown as a way of complying with social distancing restrictions.

Aires are small-scale sites with only basic facilities such as waste disposal and water.

Park manager Rachael Meller said it had proved very popular.

"It's taking a little while to build it, but now I think more people are aware of what we are doing its growing," she said.

"Anything we make goes to supporting the charity and it also benefits the local community," she added.

She said in contrast to the regular site, which operates between March and October, there was very little work to do.

"We don't have to open the shower block, or the toilets – they are self-contained – we just have to provide them with the pitches."

She said the site now attracted five or six motorhomes a night on average.

"Weekends or more popular – especially if there is an event running. It's just easy – they check in – they get a leaflet with emergency contact information - they are just self-sufficient - they don't need us."

She said it was mostly retired people who stayed at the site while visiting local attractions, or restaurants.

Without this provision, she said the local area would miss out on the additional revenue.

The charity is supporting a campaign by CAMpRA, which promote the year-round recreational use of campervans and motorhomes.

"Let's try and get people holidaying throughout the year," Ms Mellor added.

CAMpRA's director Carolyn Mitchell said there was a huge benefit in providing overnight parking to the local economy.

According to the group, 82% of motorhome owners travelled throughout the year.

"It's not people sat round sharing a tin of beans with a cocktail stick - the spend per vehicle is around £47 to £50 a night," she said.

She praised the efforts of Jubilee Park, but said that councils also needed to embrace the idea.

"A lot of council car parks are empty overnight when they could be making money for the local economy," she added.

Earlier this year, City of Lincoln Council announced that owners of campervans and motorhomes would be banned from sleeping in their vehicles overnight while using council-owned car parks in Lincoln.

Joshua Wells, the council's portfolio holder for inclusive economic growth, said it was "creating a fire risk" as the vehicles were parked too closely together.

He believed owners were attracted to prices that were lower than those at official camping sites.

Ms Mitchell said the ban was "short-sighted" and did not take into account the benefits of accommodating motorhomes close to amenities and shops.

The move has been replicated by other councils around the country, including in popular coastal locations.

In November, North Yorkshire Council announced a trial banning overnight parking at three coastal sites.

Some residents in Morecambe also previously complained about a "plague of motorhomes, campervans and even "vans with mattresses chucked in the back" on the town's seafront.

CAMpRA said it was trying to stop irresponsible behaviour, but said more provision was needed to meet growing demand.

Elsewhere in Lincolnshire, plans were recently approved for overnight parking at a car park in Cleethorpes.

Councillor Paul Bright, an owner himself, told a meeting: "There's not, certainly in the UK, short-term stopovers regularly available."

CAMpRA is currently conducting its 2024 survey of ownership and use in the UK, but a previous report found there were more than 350,000 registered motorhomes and an annual spend of £850m.

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