‘It was like a bomb had hit an off-licence’: rise in wild camping hits beauty spots

Campsites in popular areas are close to capacity, so holidaymakers pitch tents without permission on public or private land

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Beauty spots and conservation areas are being put at risk by increasing numbers of irresponsible wild campers leaving behind piles of rubbish and lighting fires - with fears growing that the problem could spread as conventional campsites fill up over the summer.

The National Trust, which manages over 780 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of mainly open access land in the UK, said that it had seen a huge increase in what it dubbed fly camping", where vast quantities of litter and sometimes tents are left behind by illegal campers.