Humberston Fitties holiday home owners face cuts

Many of the chalets were self-built in the 1930s

Owners of holiday homes on the Lincolnshire coast will have the number of months they can stay in them cut.

Residents of the Humberston Fitties, near Cleethorpes, will be stopped from staying overnight in their properties from November until March.

Currently, they are not allowed to stay after 16:00 GMT during January and February.

North East Lincolnshire Council said the change was introduced due to a risk of flooding.

The council, which owns the site, said it was responding to an independent flood risk assessment report.

'Nanny state'

In a statement the authority said: "We have a clear duty to look after those tenants in the chalets.

"This report contains independent professional advice concerning increased risks to life and to property at the Fitties which the council is duty bound to bring to the attention of all owners of chalets."

Chalet owner Glenn Sibbick described the council's ruling as a "nanny state" decision.

"We realise the risk that we're at from the flooding," he said

"But with the communications we have today, the fact of the weather forecasting we have today, there is nobody seriously at risk from something that's going to appear within an hour that we can't respond to."

The site is separated from the sea by a dune system and has more than 300 chalets, with many self-built by owners in the 1930s.