THERE has been an 'explosion' in illegal camping and littering in the Lake District since the Covid lockdowns, according to campaigners.

Walkers took photos of an abandoned tent at School Knott tarn, near Windermere, on Monday 16 September.

They said that they reported the tent and associated rubbish to the land owners Matson Ground, who said that they would clear it away. 

It comes weeks after a landowner found an abandoned tent in a remote section of the Coppermines Valley in Coniston.

Reacting to the photos, Kay Andrews, an engagement officer for campaign group Friends of the Lake District, said: "Actions like this not only ruin the landscape for other visitors and cost the communities, charities and businesses who are left cleaning up the mess time and money.

The tent with rubbish scattered insideThe tent with rubbish scattered inside (Image: Cleabarrow House)

"Leaving litter, including abandoning tents like this, can also have serious consequences for the environment and on wildlife. Litter left behind can kill wildlife and livestock, damage our soils, leach into our water systems and cause health hazards for people too."

Ms Andrews said there had been an 'explosion' in anti-social activities in the Lakes since 2020.

She claimed in a 2021 YouGov survey commissioned by the group that interviewed 600 people who had visited the area, 26 per cent admitted to leaving litter and almost a quarter (23 per cent) had engaged in anti-social behaviour. 

"It seems as if a lack of education lies behind a lot of this activity," she said. 

"In the research we commissioned more than half (52 per cent) of visitors said they expected to be able to find a public litter bin in the Lake District when they needed one, even in the remotest of places. More than 1 in 10 (13 per cent) believed that if they left litter somewhere in the Lake District, someone was paid to come and clear it up."

Ms Andrews called it 'a shame' that the people who left the mess at School Knott behind did not get the message behind a social media campaign the group ran called 'There are No Litter Fairies in the Lake District.'

The group ran posts on Fridays from July to September aimed at people making weekend plans to visit the lakes and fells.