Homes of residents caught in dispute catch fire on same day

Two residents who were involved in a long-running dispute with a holiday park company saw their homes destroyed by fire on the same day.

Their mobile home, on the opposite side of Wyre Country Park in Lancashire, burst into flames within 90 minutes in August.

Both residents appeared on the BBC Panorama program last year, alleging that some mobile home owners were defrauded out of their life savings.

Exclusive Resorts Ltd., which owns the site, said in a statement that Panorama was presenting a narrative that appeared to suggest, without any basis or evidence, that the company may have been involved in the arson attack. “This suggestion is completely false,” it said.

According to the company, concerns were raised with police that a fire could be linked to the insurance claim.

Lancashire Police said the fire was being investigated as possible arson, but no definite cause had been identified.

“We have investigated as far as possible but all inquiries have been concluded at this time,” the statement said. “The victims know this will now be closed until further evidence becomes available to identify a suspect.”

Mike Chesworth was the first resident to lose his mobile home. He and his wife were leaving the park to meet a relative on August 5 when they got a call that their house was on fire.

“I turned around as quickly as I could and went back to the park,” he told the BBC. “When I got there, my lodge was completely on fire and a lot of fire engines were coming.”

The other resident affected by the fire lived on the other side of Wyre Country Park.

Alison Porter-Garroche said she was at home when she saw smoke coming from Mike Chesworth’s unit and went to help people who were trying to put out the fire.

She then went to the park to meet another resident, who saw that Alison’s house was also burning.

“I remember running to my lodge, opening the front door because I had my mom and dad’s ashes in there. It was just black smoke, and I couldn’t see anything. I took the ashes out but I could just see my house going away. It was horrible.”

Both houses became unlivable due to the fire.

Wyre Country Park only has a holiday park licence, meaning caravan owners must not live there the whole time.

But last year, half a dozen residents told Panorama the site owner told them they could live in the park full-time when they bought their caravans.

She said David Welch, director of Exclusive Resorts Ltd, sold her properties under false pretenses and defrauded her of her life savings.

The program then sent an undercover reporter posing as a potential client who wanted to buy a house in the park.

Both the sales manager and Mr. Welch told the undercover reporter that she could stay on the site all year.

Mr Welch later told Panorama that sales agreements and signs at the park made it clear that the caravans were for holiday use only.

After the event, relations between Mr Welch and some residents, including Mr Chesworth and Ms Porter-Garroche, deteriorated further in a dispute over electricity payments.

This July, the company initiated termination proceedings against Mr Chesworth and his wife.

The Chesworths owned their own mobile home and had signed a lease allowing them to live on Wyre Country Park land.

The eviction notice terminated that lease and asked them to leave by August 4, the day before the fire. Chesworth refused to go.

Exclusive Resorts said Mr Chesworth and his wife had to vacate their home due to “serious and persistent” breaches of their license, including harassment.

The company said it had “fully and transparently cooperated with all legitimate investigations”. It also said that the matters are now under the control of the concerned authorities and it would be unfair and irresponsible to make baseless inferences of wrongdoing against the company.