![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_JRP_MEN_060526_caravan_001JPG.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn September 2024, Colin Taylor had not long returned from his summer holiday when a caravan suddenly appeared at the rear of his house.<\/p>\n
It was brought in by a man, who to this day, Colin doesn\u2019t know the name of. The stranger planted the caravan in an open space next to Colin\u2019s garage.<\/p>\n
Bemused, Colin approached the man who told him he had recently become homeless and needed a place to stay for a \u2018couple of weeks.\u2019<\/p>\n
However, the weeks turned to months and the months eventually turned to years on Brook Street, Golborne.<\/p>\n
“He said he\u2019d split up with his wife and he\u2019ll only be there for a couple of weeks \u2018till he got sorted, ” recalled Colin, 58.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s been there since then.\u201d<\/p>\n
A retired prison officer, Colin says the caravan has been a blight in the area, often surrounded by waste and is regularly visited by random people in the early hours of the morning.<\/p>\n
He told the MEN: \u201cWe\u2019ve had some proper dodgy looking people turn up.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople would come and go to the side of the caravan, where they using it as a drug drop or something?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m frightened to go in my garage because I don\u2019t know who\u2019s in and out. Grandkids used to come out and kick the ball about and you can\u2019t bring them out because you don\u2019t know who\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Image: Jason Roberts \/Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n
Colin says he has reported the issue to both Greater Manchester Police<\/a> and Wigan<\/a> Council several times. He claims the council have not been able to remove the vehicle in previous occasions because of people living inside it.<\/p>\n According to Colin, two men have lived inside the caravan in the past two years. He said: \u201cThey rehomed the original fella and I contacted the council to let them know it’s empty. They turned up and another guy was in there!\u201d<\/p>\n However, as of May 2026, Colin says the caravan is now empty but the council now say the payment for removal will have to be billed to the owner of the private land it sits on.<\/p>\n Colin Taylor<\/p>\n The plot belongs to an 81-year-old Beryl Crellin. She lives alone on Brook Street and said she has no intention of paying a fee.<\/p>\n “How can they charge me when it’s not my caravan?” She protested. “Yes, it’s my land, but I’m not paying money for them to move it. The council should move it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had enough of this,\u201d added Beryl, who is affectionately known on the street as Carol. \u201cI take no notice, I\u2019m 81 and I don\u2019t want to be involved in this.<\/p>\n \u201cThey shouldn\u2019t have put that caravan there without asking. That’s the annoying part about it.\u201d<\/p>\n (Image: Jason Roberts \/Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n Colin concluded: \u201cThe trouble is, you\u2019re in the pub on a Friday night and all your mates are saying to take it and push it down the street or something.<\/p>\n \u201cBut because I\u2019ve brought it up and complained about it, if it gets found somewhere, I\u2019m getting done for flytipping.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can do, it\u2019s so annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n Wigan Council and GMP has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In September 2024, Colin Taylor had not long returned from his summer holiday when a caravan suddenly appeared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,187,2465,16,15,1287,27603],"class_list":{"0":"post-948968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-greater-manchester-police","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wigan","16":"tag-wigan-council"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116546384077580349","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Colin-Taylor-58-Brook-Street-Golborne_1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_JRP_MEN_060526_caravan_002JPG.jpg\")
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