BRIGHT LIFE
We live in the most colourful seaside town in the UK – we love it but there’s a dark side
RESIDENTS in the UK's most colourful seaside town say that they love living there - but there's a dark side.
Tenby in Wales is famous for the pastel-coloured houses along its seafront, which is visited by thousands of tourists every year.
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The town's beach was voted the best in Britain in 2019 - but locals are fuming at visitors' bad behaviour.
David, who lives in one of the colourful houses, told that he has had tourists spit on his car because they think he can't park on the seafront.
The resident added that outsiders scooping up second homes has forced lifelong residents out - and that Tenby's weather is not always idyllic.
He said: "Second homes I'm okay with but it's the Airbnbs.
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"It's a lovely house except when the wind blows. The rain will find a way in.
"Lockdown was lovely, that's when you realised how few people actually live in Tenby.
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"I was walking the dog on the beach one evening and I looked up and there was just one light on in one house, which I thought was quite sad.
"But it is lovely living here. It's picture postcard perfect."
David added that the upkeep costs for his house are "horrendous" - but that the view is worth it.
He said: "You could be on an ocean liner, you just look out and all you can see is sea.
"When the light is crisp, you can see individual houses on Rhossili and snow on the tops of the Black Mountains. It's magical."
Local Cerys Griffiths said that the wind constantly blew sand and salt into the colourful houses.
She said: "They look lovely but they do need a lot of upkeep and maintenance. Leaves crinkle and burn."
"But it does have the most marvellous view."
Her husband Peter added: "I think the Tenby diaspora and community don't necessarily live in Tenby.
"You don't ever own these houses. You just look after them for whoever comes next."
Retired headteacher Anne Ponish said she has been forced inside by hordes of tourists around the town.
She said: "It gets very busy but you close the front door and you've got this other world behind at the back.
"I sit here to read a book for 10 minutes and I'm still there three hours later.
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"I'm really lucky to live here. I've done a lot of stupid thing in my life but buying this house was the best thing I ever did."
It comes after residents in Tenby said they are terrified that their picturesque cliffs could collapse because of a rat infestation.
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