A family who have been left ‘trapped’ living in a flooded caravan park claim they’ve been told their only option is to pay £75,000 for a new pitch – after the salesperson who enticed them to buy it did a runner.
Beauty salon owner Alicia Mearns and her partner, John Hayden, who owns a building business, wanted to split their time between the UK and sunny Spain.
To make their dream a reality, the couple, aged 41 and 48, who have two children, needed an easy base near to work when coming back to Britain.
After doing their research, they decided to invest in a Park Lane Holiday Homes caravan, which offered year-round accommodation in Wirral.
While in the process of selling their house, they snapped up a mobile home for £36,000, with plans to temporarily live there while they figured out their move abroad.
All was going well – until a bout of heavy rainfall, where their pitch on Park Lane Holiday Homes was completely flooded.
‘Whenever there are heavy rains, our pitch floods, which is often, due to the British weather,’ Alicia, from Birkenhead, told
‘The water depth can be such that we find it extremely difficult to get in and out of the caravan.
Alicia Mearns and her partner, John Hayden, say they have been left ‘trapped’ living in a flooded caravan park claim they’ve been told their only option is to pay £75,000 for a new pitch
Alicia and John bought the caravan so they would have a base in the UK while they tried to start a new life in Spain
The couple’s electricity meter becomes immersed in water, according to the couple
‘[In our opinion], it’s clearly dangerous, especially when the electric meter is immersed in deep water.’
The mum says that while the caravan hasn’t flooded inside, the water does cover the bottom of the mobile home, causing damp – which she claims has made the family quite ill.
John said: ‘They [the park] told us a new water pump was installed to keep water levels down in future.
‘But the flooding is actually worse now.
‘It has flooded badly a total of seven times since we moved in.’
The couple, who bought the caravan in 2023, were allegedly told by a salesperson from Park Lane Holiday Homes that the caravan was the only plot left – and that someone else was interested.
To avoid losing out, Alicia and John committed right away and put down a £500 deposit.
The rest of the money was pulled from bank loans, which they paid off after selling their family home and part-exchanging their 2013 touring caravan.
The house kitchen before John’s improvements, which site bosses say have devalued the caravan
John installed a new £10,000 kitchen himself, but this has caused an issue
Alicia says they were then billed with a £4,600 site fee charge and a further £300 a few weeks later.
Due to the flooding, they asked the salesperson if they could move to a higher pitch – and were reportedly given the go-ahead to do so if they paid an additional £1,400.
The couple agreed and arranged for the move to be done on their behalf while they were home shopping in Spain.
But the move never happened.
She said: ‘It didn’t happen.
‘While we were in Spain, we got messages from people we know on the site telling us [the salesperson] had robbed the owners and done a runner.
Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims, which is helping the family, said the issues are rife across British holiday parks
‘We have been told outright that they will not be moving [it].
‘A new salesperson said the only way to move to a more flood-proof location is to upgrade to one in a more preferable location for £75,000.’
Alicia and John were served another blow when they were told their new kitchen, which cost £10,000, ‘devalued’ their home as they built it themselves.
The mum said, ‘Apparently, this had devalued the caravan.
‘[We were] told this, plus the fact it was 20 years old, which we had no idea about until this point, rendered it worthless.
‘We are probably biased, but we feel that the caravan looks objectively better after John’s lovingly installed kitchen replacement.’
Refusing to pay for the upgrade, the pair tried to sell the caravan privately.
But even though two of their friends expressed interest, the sale was hindered by the park putting the ground rent up from £4,600 to £10,500 for any new owners.
Because of the caravan’s age, the couple say no other park will accept the mobile home.
Alicia added: ‘We never would have paid so much money for a caravan if we had known the limitations caused by its age.
‘We are now stuck living on a pitch that continues to flood, resulting in our electricity tripping out as our washing machine and dryer are located outside.
‘The tumble dryer is now ruined due to water damage.
Currently, we are in limbo.
‘The park keeps sending us a new lease to sign, and we daren’t sign it because it states a caravan age limit of 10 years.’
The couple’s dream of moving to Spain is now on hold for the foreseeable future.
Greg Wilson, CEO of European Consumer Claims, which is helping the family, said: ‘Alicia and John are a hard working couple trying to get on in life and do what is best for the family.
‘The issues they are reporting here are sadly rife across the British holiday park industry, and many people who bought these caravans or lodges are in need of assistance.’
Jam Press has contacted Park Lane Holiday Homes, Wirral, for comment on multiple occasions.
