A yellow Vauxhall Corsa parked in the picturesque village of Bibury in the Cotswold is being blamed for ruining hundreds of tourists’ photographs. Numerous visitors to the village – known for its tea rooms and quaint cottages – have taken to Twitter claiming the car “ruins” the idyllic view.
Bibury, near Cirencester, was described by William Morris as “the most beautiful village in England” and its 17th Century cottages on Arlington Row are featured on the inside of British passports. It was famously used as a setting for scenes in the British comedy movie Bridget Jones Diary as well as in romantic fantasy Stardust, with Robert De Niro.
“I take hundreds of people there each year and the yellow car is always there,” said tour operator Lee McCallum.
“I tell them beforehand that they’re going to see an ugly little yellow car in the beautiful setting of Arlington Row and nobody’s complained about it, “But it’s so out of place and in such stark contrast to the scenery – you’ve just got to celebrate it.”
Allan King of the National Trust – who owns the weavers’ cottages – said they had no control over which colour cars its residents chose to buy or where they parked them.
“The car is parked outside one of our neighbouring properties, he’s not one of our tenants,” Mr King said.
“For tenants of our properties, we have a car park behind Arlington Row but it’s up to them if they want to park outside their houses – they live there.”
The bright yellow Corsa is owned by Peter Maddox, an 82-year-old retired dentist who seemingly has no garage or driveway.
“What choice do I have? There is nowhere else I can put the car,” he told the Telegraph.