RESIDENTS in a famous UK seaside town once home to TV stars say it has become a disgusting, rat-filled dump.
The owners of six ramshackle seaside chalets in Porthcawl, South Wales, fed rats to help them get moved to better accommodation.
The tenants knew that if they encouraged the rats it would speed up their chances of being given up-to-date social housing.
Their plan worked and now the small run-down bungalows have been boarded up and are part of a “disgusting” eyesore on the seafront of one of Britain’s most popular resorts.
The chalets were at the rear of the Buccaneer Complex, just 30 yards from the beach and a two-minutes walk to the resort’s famous Coney Island funfair.
Not long ago the complex had seaside shops selling beach balls, windbreaks and kites.There was a popular pub – The Buccaneer – a pizza parlour, kebab takeaway, jewellers and surf shop.
But all have been shut down and boarded up in a move that locals and holidaymakers say visiting Porthcawl is “depressing”.
One local businessman said: “The residents of the chalets wanted out, even though they loved the location.
“There was a rat infestation but the tenants fed them knowing it would help their case if the place was crawling with vermin.
“They were feeding the rats scraps. I saw it with my own eyes.”
The residents were moved to temporary accommodation 20 miles away but all have moved back to council and housing association flats back in Porthcawl.
Meanwhile businesses and holidaymakers are urging the owners of the Buccaneer Complex, former airline pilot Alistair Dalton and his brother Simon, to urgently redevelop the site, earmarked for a block of luxury flats.
James Quantick, 46, who was landlord of The Buccaneer for 16 years, said: “I was sorry to see it go like everyone else.
“We all hope something will be done in the short term but my feeling is you could come back in two years and nothing will have changed.
“It’s sad but it’s the story of the British seaside, there are countless other places in a similar vein.
“There are all sorts of reasons for what has happened here, the wider economy, the weather, it’s not just one factor.”
Polish-born Roma Nicol, 27, ran a jewellery and trinket shop in the Buccaneer Complex but had to move out and watched in dismay as the unit was boarded up earlier this year.
He told Sun Online: “It’s crazy, Porthcawl will die unless everything opens up soon. It’s such a shame to see it like this.
“The owner was here four weeks ago and I asked him what was going to happen but I didn’t really get an answer.”
Porthcawl, population 16,000, was once the go-to resort for families in the South Wales valleys, especially during miners’ fortnight when all the pits would close down during the summer holidays.
The town’s Trecco Bay caravan site boasts of being Britain’s biggest holiday park and the Coney Beach funfair, named after the one in New York, still attracts visitors for miles around.
Gavin and Stacey stars Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon were brought up in the town which still retains some of its grandeur with impressive seafront hotels and restaurants.
But the Buccaneer Complex is damaging the town’s reputation and while the chalet residents have gone the rats are still there.
Locals, holidaymakers and day-trippers, some who remember the seaside shops in their glory days, say it’s a crying shame to see them rotting away.
Mum-of-three Rhian Daniels, 43, from Aberdare, said: “It’s disgusting to see the area so dilapidated. There was always a good atmosphere around here, people laughing and enjoying themselves by the seaside.
“But look at the state of it now, it’s depressing.”
Rhian’s sister Lynn Daniels, 55, also from Aberdare added: “It looks awful, it will put a lot of people off to see everything boarded up.
“I have been coming here since I was a kid, it’s shocking to see Porthcawl like this.”
Mum-of-two Louise Kostic, 35, from Bridgend, who was having a day out with children Olivia, five, and Gianna, one, said: “It looks like a shanty town, it desperately needs uplifting.
“I came here when I was a little girl, I remember the hustle and bustle. It was a lovely place, luckily if I give my little girls an ice cream, they don’t notice.”
Father-of-four Bret Jarvie, 45, a service delivery manager from Bridgend, said: “It’s a shame it’s gone to rack and ruin. Porthcawl has a good reputation for holidays but they won’t come if they see this mess.”
Widower Vivian Howells. 78, a retired digger driver who used to clear unwanted sand from Porthcawl beach said: “It was brilliant down here years ago, especially the miners’ holiday.
“I worked on the fairground when I was 15, it was great.
“But the Buccaneer area has gone to look terrible, there’s talk of knocking it all down and building flats and houses on the site. They need to do something soon, it’s a bit depressing.”
