Bibury, the Cotswolds village recently named the world's most beautiful by Forbes, is considering installing fencing along the River Coln to stop visitors from wading into the water, after residents said tourist behaviour "has got to stop".
Parish councillors have expressed concern over environmental damage caused by tourists entering the shallow river that flows through the village centre. Photographs and council minutes show that during the summer, visitors not only paddled but brought chairs to sit in the water, posing a risk to local wildlife including swans, ducks, voles and fish.
Fencing plans and National Trust talks
Plans include fencing off the riverbank next to the central Swan Bridge, and talks are reportedly set to be held with the National Trust, which owns the Arlington Row cottages, about cordoning off a further stretch of riverbank near those properties.
Craig Chapman, parish council chairman, told The Independent: "Over the summer with the hot weather, people would not just sit on the river bank but would go in the water and even bring chairs in to sit on to cool down. The main concern is the wildlife, but also the whole area with people using it like it is a recreational area. When they go into the water they can upset the habitat."
Traffic and parking crackdowns
The village of approximately 600 residents has introduced various measures to manage traffic, including additional double yellow lines. Wardens issued up to £45,000 worth of fines last year, along with a record number of monthly penalty tickets in May. A trial coach drop-off zone is set to become permanent, with pay and display parking planned, potentially charging £7 for a two-hour stay.
Residents say these interventions are not working, as coaches "park where they want" and cars are left "abandoned". Kris Watts, who moved to Bibury a decade ago, recorded footage in August showing a coach failing to use the designated drop-off point. She said: "The coach was just parked up on the left hand side. You couldn't see what was coming. When we eventually got past it all the passengers were walking across the road bridge. You just think, why? The coach bays the other side were empty. They just don't take any notice. They tend to park where they want."
She also described a van stopped at the roadside as being "abandoned so they can get out and have a look", and blamed misleading social media content for worsening the village's difficulties. "We moved here ten years ago and we knew it was a tourist village but since Covid it has just got worse and worse and worse," she said. "I think it's to do with influencers. People are posting reels showing you an idyllic traffic-free village and then when you get here it's absolutely rammed."
Double-edged sword for locals
Mr Chapman spoke to the BBC in 2025 about how the village's reputation is a "double-edged sword", describing the volume of visitors as "problematic" and stating it comes "at a cost for locals". He said: "The issue is very much about the mechanisms whereby people come to the village and when they come here, how they behave, where they park. The reality is we sit on a B-road. The road is narrow, there's one bridge across the River Coln, which is only wide enough for one vehicle. We've suffered greatly from congestion, particularly from the larger coaches."
Residents themselves do not believe tourism is good for the village. Journalist and author Victoria Summerley, who has lived there since 2012, previously noted that villagers would say tourists "don't put any money into the village". Lynn Edward, a resident of six years, told The Guardian last year: "We have such a beautiful place that we want to share, but the level of tourism and the hordes of people that come has just made it entirely unpleasant, and the infrastructure doesn't really cope with it. All they want to do is come and take a photograph. They don't stay in the village. They don't linger enough to really ingest the beauty and historic value of the place. It's literally, I think, to take a selfie."
