Ousted Isle of Wight caravan owners 'to lose £1.5m'

Static home owners on the Isle of Wight have said they will lose more than £1m after being ousted from the site.

The owners of 80 caravans at Rookley Country Park have received letters telling them to remove their homes.

They said many residents would be unable to sell, resulting in losses of up to £40,000 each.

In a statement, the country park said part of the site had to be vacated so that "critical maintenance and development work" could be carried out.

Residents' spokesman Paul Martin said he was "furious" that each owner would lose an average of "just under £20,000".

He said: "That's £1.57m that they're taking from us to develop their own capital appreciation project. It's unethical at the highest level."

Resident Julie O'Gorman said: "As we are on a small island there are very limited available pitches to move to and there are no sites that take caravans over 10 years old.

"The majority of us have nowhere to go and no option but to simply walk away from our investments.

"Legally we can find no loopholes but this is a story that is morally unacceptable and destroying people's lives," she said.

Ms O'Gorman said more than 40 homes had to be removed by December, with a similar number following a year later.

The sale of Rookley Country Park was announced in July, as part of the £11m acquisition of Island View Holidays by Aria Resorts.

In September, Island View Holidays wrote to residents outlining plans to begin work in the autumn to upgrade the park.

In a statement, the park said the affected owners had agreed annual licences which were not being renewed for 2018.

It said some areas needed a "significant amount of work to be undertaken to ensure a safe and secure location for people to stay".