by A Cotswold village is considering banning coaches from its streets despite warnings it will drive tourists away.
Officials in Bourton-on-the-Water are looking to create a no-go zone for buses carrying visitors.
Parish councilors say they are trying to tackle ongoing issues, including a lack of parking in one of the area’s most popular tourist destinations.
Around 238,000 people visit the village by coach or minibus in any one year and business owners have warned that banning the buses will disrupt trade and turn the village into a ghost town.
Andrew Lund-Yates, 63, said his pub and hotel would lose 10 per cent of its income if the plans went ahead.
Mr Lund-Yates bought the Old New Inn in 2018 and planned to reinvest in the pub, but said there is “no way” he would do so if coaches were banned.
“The council is interested in taking tourists out of Bourton, which is frustrating businesses that have built their business around catering for tourists,” he said.
“The tourists are the visitors we spend the most. My plan was built on coaches.
He said: “Other businesses have limited options, the restrictions could mean the difference between being open and being closed.
“If winter travel stops, smaller businesses may close. We don’t want to look like a seasonal seaside village. There is a lot of concern.”
If approved, the plan would use traffic control orders to prevent coach access to Bourton from the A429 to Llansdowne as well as the High Street and Station Road.
With this decision visitors would have to walk for 30 minutes from the drop off point to the town centre.
Any final decision would be subject to full public consultation and would have to be implemented by Gloucestershire County Council’s highways authority, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Until December, coaches were able to drop off passengers at a car park just outside the town center but the arrangement between the council and the owner of the car park has now changed.
Locals say a newly refurbished car park on the other side of the town center could be a good drop-off spot but coach spaces were not included in the refurbishment in February.
As a result, coach drivers have to use unofficial drop-off points, which frustrates residents who give up when the larger vehicles pass them.
Charles Watt, 67, owns a gift shop in the village and described the proposed plan as ridiculous.
He said: “The councilors should be sacked. We will lose a certain amount of business.
“It’s so thoughtless. They have done nothing to find a solution. They didn’t help at all.”
James Walker, 38, manages a cafe opposite the Christmas shop run by his wife and said the parish’s proposal would definitely affect his sales.
On some days, he said, nearly 70 percent of sales come from tourists who arrive by coach.
“If we prevent people from coming, the number of people will suffer,” he said.
Andy Pulham, 54, runs Pulham & Sons Coaches which has been based in the village since 1880.
If the plans were implemented, coach drivers would not be able to pick up passengers from the town centre.
He said: “No one would be able to come into the area.
“It’s disappointing that we’re taking away the option – from people on low incomes, the elderly – to go out on trips by banning coaches.
“What we’re saying is you can’t enjoy Bourton if you don’t have a car.
“Visitors from abroad want to come here. Older people live for those trips.”
He said: ”Other towns near us are saying, ‘you can come and visit us’ [if you can’t visit Bourton].”
Gwen Homes, 81, and Joan Lidgbird, 84, traveled to Bourton by coach from Solihull for the day as part of an over 50s trip.
They said they wouldn’t have booked if the trip meant walking for half an hour into the village.
Ms Homes said: “We have a number of people who cannot walk. I wouldn’t want to come on the trip.”
Some residents, however, are unhappy with the disruption caused by visitors.
Noel McCaffery, 77, has lived in Bourton for 40 years. The retired mason complained that his driveway is often used by coaches trying to turn around after dropping off tourists in the town centre.
He said: “No one can come in and no one can go out. The buses block the junctions.
“Business owners are only thinking about themselves. They’re not thinking about the local people who put up with all the trouble.”
Brian Smith, 81, also complained about the disruption but said it was poor planning by the council, not the coaching staff.
The retired coach driver said: “The village can’t cope any more [with the level of tourism]. The numbers are too high.
“I can see coaches coming back in [to the cul-de-sac] turning My complaint is with the council who knew this was going to happen.”
Parish councilors are due to make a decision in April.
