'We spent £48k on caravan to find it's a flooding dump overrun with XL Bullies'

A couple saw their dreams reduced to nightmares when they spent £48,000 on a caravan - only to find out it was on a dump site filled with “thugs” anddangerous XL Bullies.

Samantha Driver, 35, and Lushana Howard, 30, were left out of pocket after thinking they’d found their first home together along withtheir two Chihuahua dogs.

Having found a site at Billing Aquadrome that would accept pets, they were excited to settle into their new home just outside Northampton. The plot boasted round the clock security, routine grounds maintenance, an indoor heated swimming pool, bars, restaurants and fishing lakes.

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They purchased a brand new £48,000 caravan, helped with a £34,000 loan from Samantha's mother and another loan from her father. However, things quickly turned south when they made the shock discovery that dogs were not allowed to be kept unattended inside, , according to the Daily Mail.

Then the couple say they were met with XL Bully dogs running free, machete wielding thugs terrorising locals and rife flooding issues just metres from their doorstep.

Having escaped the hell, they are still having to pay £2,000 a month to pay the loans back, leaving the pair with no money left as they avoid what they described as a “slum.”

Samantha and Lushana claim they were told it would be ok to leave their dogs unattended in the caravan.

“We made sure that our dogs were ok to be left alone in the caravan with occasional help from a dog-sitter,' Samantha explained. “We chose our site, number 14 for two reasons, firstly that's my birthday and secondly we were told that was a particularly well protected location in case of any flooding.”

Regarding previous flooding issues, the pair were told Meadow Bay were investing £12 million in the park and flood protection “was the top spending priority”

Samantha continued: “We confirmed that our annual site fees included: rates and water; grounds maintenance and landscaping; park security; street lighting; office admin; and access to the indoor heated swimming pool, bars and restaurants, fishing lakes and owner events.

“We had heard horror stories of some parks increasing annual fees to £10,000 a year or more and sought assurances that this would not happen here. Finally we confirmed that we could live permanently in the caravan. We've all seen the stories about people who bought a static caravan to live in, only to be told later that it could only be used as a holiday stay.”

The first blow came as they waited to move into their caravan. “We were waiting for the caravan to be installed when we were given the paperwork, which we had not seen completed copies of until this point.

“Our first shock was to discover that not only were dogs forbidden to be left unattended in a caravan, but any person minding a dog had to be over 18 years old. This would have been a deciding factor in us buying the caravan as the only dog-sitter we knew was 17 years old.

“Already upset, we went to plot number 14 to inspect our newly installed caravan. It was installed on plot 13. We were unhappy about this as not only are we superstitious, but had chosen 14 because of my birthday as well as the very salient fact that it was sold to us as being better sited for flood defence.”

From here on out - events spiralled, according to Samantha.

“Despite our own small dogs not being allowed to be alone even inside the caravan, or minded by a 17 year old, there were terrifying XL bully dogs roaming unattended around the site.

“We needed to put up skirting around our caravan to keep the dangerous dogs out of our area, but were told this was not allowed unless we paid the park £2700 to do it for us.

“The ground rent has already gone up by £500 in the first year. It is now £5100 for 2025. We can not afford increases like this. Also we soon discovered that rates and water are not included in the annual fees, which increases the annual costs even further."

The indoor swimming pool also seemed to be a scam, with Amanda claiming “There are overgrown hedges and uncut grass everywhere, as well as piles of garbage, dog excrement, duck excrement and other litter all over the park.

“The 'street lighting' does not work except for one individual light at the end of the park. The road is pitch black at night, and can not be walked without torches.

“The annual fee is supposed to include on-park security, yet there were multiple reports of XL bully dog attacks around the park, some resulting in fatalities to other dogs.'

“We have also personally witnessed terrifying scenes of people dressed in black, wearing balaclavas and threatening people in cars with machetes. Since one such event, my partner Lushana has suffered from severe mental health issues requiring long-term professional care.'

Then the park flooded and the caravan was subject to horrific leaks. “The steps were nothing like the brand new, high quality ones we were shown on the sales presentation. They were slippery, had gaps and they sank into the ground when it rained.

“Lushana injured herself slipping on the steps. We complained to the office, but were simply told: 'tough, you won't be getting the good steps. The caravan design company eventually sent someone to fix the issues, and he confirmed that the fixtures were bodged. We began to question whether our caravan was even a new one.”

They are now seeking advice from European Consumer Claims, which is spearheading a national campaign for accountability within the holiday park sector.

Greg Wilson, ECC CEO, said: “For some time ECC have been lobbying for changes in the law to make holiday park businesses both more strictly regulated and accountable.

“So far, successive governments have refused, saying that people should rely on the Consumer Credit Act for protection. However for most people this is an expensive and often ineffective way to seek redress without expert help. ECC remains staunchly at the forefront of this national fight for holiday park justice.”

The Mirror has contacted Meadow Bay for comment.