by Jack Beresford

A caravanning holidaymaker had to be cut from the wreckage of her tow car last weekend after a planned weekend of camping was brought to a swift end when her vehicle jack-knifed.

Police and emergency services rushed to the scene of the accident, which occurred at the A66/A685 junction near Cooper House Farm at around 2.40pm on Saturday (August 25th).

Two fire crews were required to deal with the crash, which occurred when the car towing the tourer jack-knifed, sending the vehicle careering into the left-hand reservation.

According to the Westmorland Gazette, cutting equipment was employed to get a 50-year-old female out of the wreckage.

She sustained only minor back injuries, while two other passengers were able to get out of the car unaided.

The incident is the latest to involve a rogue caravan, with reports emerging last week of one tourer which ended up careering down a hill without a tow car following a collision in Melton.

by Niki Greig

Caravanners in Essex out making the most of the Bank Holiday were stunned to find that they may have been sharing their spot with a lion.
Denise and Bob Martin, who were staying at the Earl’s Hall Farm Caravan Club site in Clacton-on-Sea, were the first people to spot the large cat.
The couple, from Canvey Island, went out to investigate because they saw smoke coming from a field and thought there was a fire.
“With the naked eye, you could see it was a lion – it was bigger than a German Shepherd, and it was female,” Denise said, “It was too far away for us to be scared. It was looking at us, its ears were twitching. She was quite content to just watch us.”
Mrs Martin’s brother Dave Wright and his wife Sue were staying next to the couple and confirmed the sighting. Whilst watching the ‘lion’ for over half an hour, Dave captured some shots on his digital camera.
However, the site co-owner, Roger Lord has a differing opinion, “I had a look through the binoculars and said ‘that’s a cat’ – it was sitting in stubble that was six to eight inches high and you could just see its head sticking out of the top,” he said.
“I am sceptical – I think it might just well be a large domestic cat but they certainly saw something that they were concerned about and they went down the right route to the police.”
Also staying on the site were Stephen Atkin, 52, and his wife, Gill, who also saw the ‘lion’.
“We witnessed it, I would say, for about 20 to 30 minutes cleaning itself and rolling about in the field,” he said. He said the animal was the length of two sheep “put together”.
The couple handed pictures that they took of the animal to police saying. “We did not think it was a lion as its ears were too pointed but it was really big.”
Essex police and local Colchester Zoo, whose three lions are all accounted for, joined in the search which was called off late last night (27th August) with a statement that concluded that the animal was either a large domestic cat or wildcat.
Police have issued a statement saying: “Public safety is our priority which is why we are taking the sighting and all associated evidence seriously. We have an increased police presence in the area which will offer reassurance to local residents, motorists and holidaymakers.”

by Jack Beresford

A man from Coventry has been arrested for the theft of a caravan from a driveway in Linton, Derbyshire – three years ago.

The unnamed suspect was arrested after new evidence put him at the scene of the crime, with a picture even available to prove his presence.

Derbyshire police had all but given up hope of finding the perpetrator of this tourer-based crime, until the previous owner made a startling discovery online.

Using Google Street View, a piece of software providing three-dimensional views of much of the UK, the owner found the image of his house, and the man in question was pictured on their driveway, standing next to a 4×4 car.

It soon became apparent that the car used to capture the Google street view image had driven past at the precise moment the man opted to take the tourer on June 5th 2009.

The suspect has been arrested on suspicion of theft and bailed.

His capture follows a long campaign for help from local police, with CaravanTimes reporting on the theft back in November 2010.

by Jack Beresford

A growing number of children are heading off on a caravan holiday with their grandparents in a practice Halfords has labelled as “gramping”.

The increase comes as parents up and down the country continue to feel the financial squeeze, prompting many to turn to their own parents for support.

Holidays – and in particular camping trips – are among the most popular solutions among this group, with these summer holidays also providing parents with a welcome break from energetic young children.

According to a new survey of 1,000 families, which was conducted by Halfords, a third of families rely on grandparents to help them out during the holiday.

The research found that around one in four grandparents have taken their grandchildren off for a spot of “gramping” across the UK, with caravanning trips among the most popular options for a trip away.

Paul McClenaghan, Halfords commercial director, said: “We know that many people have nostalgic memories of camping trips when they were growing up so it’s natural that grandparents want to pass on the enjoyment of a holiday under canvas to their grandchildren.

“Camping is also great value and an ideal way to occupy children and give them an active break.”

The research echoes statistics from the Camping and Caravanning Club which showed an eight per cent rise in bookings made by over 55’s this year.