A North Yorkshire councillor has referred to visitors to Craven who behave badly as the 'great unwashed'.

Cllr David Staveley, who represents Penyghent on North Yorkshire Council, was referring to the huge amounts of rubbish left at Stainforth Foss, a popular destination in the Dales for visitors.

He told the council's Skipton and Ripon area committee meeting in Skipton how volunteers led by area vicar Rev Stephen Dawson regularly fill a large roll-top bin with rubbish including disposable barbecues and beer cans left behind by visitors.

Cllr Staveley said Horton-in-Ribblesdale, on the Yorkshire Three Peaks route, was also 'blighted' with some residents deciding to leave their homes for the weekends rather than put up by the unwelcome behaviour of some.

"The great unwashed are descending on our area and they aren’t behaving very well. Some people don’t know how to appreciate what we have in a way that’s acceptable to those who live here and pay a price to live here," he said.

"I think there is an issue that needs to be addressed in terms of the behaviour of some of our visitors."

Committee chair, Cllr Richard Foster, who represents Wharfedale on North Yorkshire Council said Grassington was getting American tourists as a result of the popular Channel 5 series All Creatures Great and Small. "It's really good for the village, but homes are being priced out of reach for the locals," he added.

Cllr Robert Heseltine, who represents Skipton East and South,  said: “One advantage of being elderly is I can think back to the 1960s when society went downhill with edicts about mods and rockers. They were termed long-haired louts.

“I don’t think there are many unwashed about, but certainly there are people who don’t keep to reasonable standards.”

Cllr Staveley, led an investigation into the impact of tourism on the most popular of villages, such as Malham and Horton-in-Ribblesdale, when he was chair of the former Craven District Council's Scrutiny Committee.

A resulting report, which involved evidence from parish councils, emergency services and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, came out in 2022 and made recommendations including a multi agency partnership approach to tourism and greater on-site management by the national park of large scale events. Also recommended was better traffic management and a review by the national park of its no litter bins policy.

Cllr Andy Brown, who represents Aire Valley, told the meeting it was important that the good work of the former Craven council was not lost.

Rev Stephen Dawson, vicar of Langcliffe with Stainforth and Horton in Ribblesdale told the Craven Herald that there was a permanent large roll-top bin at Stainforth Foss.

"On hot weekends the volume of litter means that we may need another bin or it has to be emptied twice a week. The litter-pickers from St Peter’s keep an eye on it and send a picture to David (Staveley) and the parish council.

"We still pick and bag litter from the field, the access lane and main road though to be fair most people do leave their rubbish next to the bin. Most of it is cans or bottles, food and barbecue trays and sadly could have been recycled."