Villages in the South West have 'had their hearts sucked out' by holiday lets and second homes, according Lonely Planet. Daily Telegraph
It paints a picture of a region in which wealthy outsiders and property investors have transformed the region’s economy 'but not necessarily for the best'.
The comments are made in the latest guide to Devon, Cornwall and South-West England.
The book acknowledges that 'overflowing car parks, low paid seasonal jobs and summer traffic have long been a fact of life out west'. But it adds that since the influx of outside investment, the South West has 'kissed goodbye to its corn-chewing, tractor-driving stereotype and been reborn as a tonic for the heart'.
The comments come after reports that in some villages along the north Cornwall coast holiday homes now outnumbered those owned by locals.