Man arrives at his static caravan to find another one in its place
A man claims he turned up at a caravan park to find his static caravan had been replaced with someone else's.
Mark Robinson says he bought the holiday home in Towyn, Wales with his late father Raymond when the older man was suffering from terminal cancer, Wales Online reports.
He says his dad spent his life savings on the structure so his son could have some respite during the difficult time.
Raymond died during the pandemic and when Mark travelled from his home in the West Midlands to the caravan at Lyons' Oakfields site last week he was shocked to find it had been moved and someone else's was on his plot.
His own static caravan is some 100 yards away near the entrance, in a "storage" area.
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Mark has been sleeping in his American Dodge 'day van' since discovering his caravan had been moved (David Powell)“I should have been given a notice to quit or an eviction notice but I was not," Mr Robinson, a former motor mechanic like his late father.
Lyons Holiday Parks said ownership of the caravan had not been formally transferred from the late Mr Robinson to his son and site fees had not been paid.
The firm said the caravan was over a 20-year age limit to be on site. It was allowed to remain for a six-month "grace" period but it has now been moved.
Lyons also says Mr Robinson made death threats to staff when he visited the park on Friday, June 16, a claim Mr Robinson denied.
Mr Robinson told North Wales Live: “My Dad just loved to be in North Wales. We would stay in our caravan and I would take him to Llandudno to watch the town band play at night.”
He and his father bought the second hand Carnaby Siesta caravan from Lyons for £15,000 in June 2019 and its plot was on Lyons' Oakfield's site in Towyn.
Mr Robinson's dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died, aged 88, during the Covid-19 pandemic in May 2020. But Mr Robinson said when he drove from the West Midlands to the static caravan in Towyn last Thursday he found another one on his plot.
"It was gone and another one was there instead." He asked around and was told it had been moved to near the entrance.
Mr Robinson Jnr claimed gas bottles had disappeared and when he went inside it he found his "TV was on the floor" and personal belongings still inside. I should have been given a notice to quit or an eviction notice but I was not," he said.
"I’ve had no correspondence. Now Lyons are asking me 'What do I want to do with it?' They have treated me like dirt," he claimed.
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Mr Robinson said the family had a previous caravan for 29 years which they kept on Lyons' Towyn park before part exchanging it in 2019 for the one which has just been moved. He says he tried to pay site fees early last October.
Mr Robinson said he drove up from the West Midlands to Towyn on Thursday, June 15 to find another caravan on his spot. The following day Friday, June 16 he tried in vain to find the person who sold him and his father the caravan in 2019.
The caravan park said they tried to get in touch with Mr Robinson but didn't have up-to-date contact details (David Powell)But police were called over him allegedly harassing staff which he denied. The park have not made any formal complaint to the police about Mr Robinson.
Mr Robinson said it was lucky he chose to use his American Dodge "day" van for the 250-mile round trip from the West Midlands to Towyn because he could stay in it when he found his caravan had been moved to a temporary "plot". Nevertheless the Dodge van has no cooking or proper sleeping facilities and he has had to wash in toilets in Pensarn.
Lyons Holiday Parks said ownership of the caravan had not been formally transferred from the late Mr Robinson to his son. Moreover, the caravan is over Lyons' 20-year age limit for a caravan to be on site.
It was allowed to remain for a six month "grace" period but has now been moved. It adds that no site fees were paid for the current year which would have been due on December 1 of each year.
A Lyons spokesperson added: "Mr Robinson was an owner with Lyons Holiday Parks prior to sadly passing away. Usually when such a change occurs with ownership it is standard practice that a next of kin would be in touch to transfer all details over to another party of the family - unfortunately, this didn’t occur.
"The holiday home in question is now 21 years old, we have tried on numerous occasions since November 2022 to contact the owners to advise we would not be renewing the site licence for 2023 as it has reached the 20-year limit on the park. However, we have had no success.
"After further discovery, the details on our system had not been altered from the owners who had sadly passed away hence why we have not made contact.
"We did however leave the Holiday Home in situ on the park for a 6 months grace period should the owners contact us to open a line of communication in order to resolve the situation. We have since moved the holiday home to a safe storage area ready for the owners to collect, should they get in contact with us."
The spokesperson added: "Within the industry it is standard practice that owners with other holiday park operators enjoy ownership with an age limit between 10 and 15 years, here at Lyons Holiday Parks we do offer a 20-year age limit which gives peace of mind to our valued customers.
"We are a family run holiday operator which is nearly 100 years old, of which we most definitely would not remove a holiday home without good reason."
Mr Robinson insists he was told he could keep a caravan without an age limit if he bought it from Lyons. But Mr Martin said there is no paperwork to that effect.
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