A woman is outraged after being charged full site fees at a Girvan caravan park despite the park having been closed for five out of the eight months it is usually open due to coronavirus.

The woman has been visiting Strathavon Caravan Park in Girvan for five years but proposed a discounted fee to the owner this year as the park was closed from March to July.

The woman normally pays £2000 per year for the site and asked for a £300 discount which was not applied.

Strathavon Caravan Park is normally open from March 1 to October 31.

Although the amount has now been reimbursed, the woman’s debacle with Strathavon continues as she claims she is being threatened by the owner to have her caravan removed from the site completely.

The woman said: “We asked for a discount because we have only been using it for three and a half months or so but she said no.

“I gave her £1700 which I thought was being kind, and said to take it then we could dispute it and see if we were entitled to a discount. She started shouting and bawling, saying the caravans are old and it’s a dump, and if we didn’t pay our site fees soon then we’d be getting chucked off the site.”

She continued: “We had the money there, I just thought it was a bit much for not being able to use it. I gave her a sheet from Martin Lewis, the Money saving Expert, and said I’d officially look into it. We said you can’t chuck us off the site, you have to go to court as we’ve offered to pay you.

“We all got into an argument and I said, did you apply for a business grant due to being closed during COVID? She said of course I did, I’m not stupid, but she’s still charging for April, May, June and July. She’s been reported to HMRC because she shouldn’t have been taking money from us over that business period.

“I’ve never had a contract with her so there’s no paper trail.”

The woman says her mental health has been impacted by the ongoing dispute, and that her plan to use the caravan as a relaxing getaway for her mum, who suffers from ill health, has been ruined.

She claims she is now unable to get into the caravan as it has been barricaded shut.

The woman said: “She said the caravan’s been on the site this year so I owed her site fees. She transferred the money back into my account, but now I might get charged to get it towed off the site.

“When I went down the following weekend, someone had cut all the wires so there’s no electricity and you can’t buy gas. I took the generator down with me but she said if I turned it on, she’d phone the police. I’ve had to make a fire outside to keep warm.

“I’m disappointed because my mum’s got emphysema so her and my dad have been shielding. We thought we’d head down to Girvan as an escape to relax.

“I suffer with anxiety and depression so with everything going on, worried sick about my mum, going there was a release. All this because she said she felt threatened.

“She bought an old boat to put outside it and put slabs up beside the door so I couldn’t get into my caravan. She also put a trailer up against my shed so I couldn’t get into that either.

“I had to try and move the slabs off it to get in so I could take my TV and fridge, things that are worth money because if people leave things, she’ll say you have to pay me so much to scrap it and people can’t afford that.

“I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ve lost my caravan.”

A Strathavon Caravan Park spokesperson said: “Yes it is true that I was asked to give a discount for the site fees but our site fees are for the rent of the ground that a caravan sits upon and the caravan was sitting on its pitch connected to water and electricity.

“We do not have a club or entertainment on site so therefore no reductions were given for site fees.

“The woman wasn’t asked to remove her caravan because of the reduction but because I had to phone the police because herself and her partner threatened me and another customer on site, telling me they were “tooled up”.

“She also didn’t pay her site fees until after this time and was then refunded in full, therefore not having paid any fees for 2020-2021 season but still used their caravan, even after the electricity and water had been disconnected.

“The woman has already been in contact with a councillor who in turn contacted environmental health and trading standards who have told me I’m within my rights not to refund and know that this caravan is to be removed from the site.

“This caravan would have been removed from it’s pitch but it is in such bad repair it cannot be towed and will have to be pulled down. The caravan is an old caravan and would not be allowed on any other site because of its age.”