A tourist has said his trip to an English seaside resort was spoiled by the hundreds of signs which created an ‘unwelcoming Big Brother atmosphere’.
The TripAdvisor reviewer said his visit to Dawlish, on the south coast of Devon, was blighted by hundreds of notices about parking, dog mess, litter and how to feed ducks.
The visitor said he was ‘bombarded with signs telling me to do this and not do that’ during his trip to the Devon town.
These are a selection of the signs that a TripAdvisor reviewed complained of seeing in Dawlish
The reviewer said their visit to Dawlish had been spoiled by the hundreds of signs like this
The tourist said the number of fussy signs created an ‘unwelcoming Big Brother atmosphere’
He fumed: ‘There are less signs to be found at a top secret military base.
‘Absolutely everywhere I looked there was a sign telling me to comply in one way or another. There are literally dozens and dozens of them – everywhere.
‘In over 60 years I have never visited anywhere that appears so overly dominated by what I can only assume to be the ruling local councillors whom I imagine to be hen-pecked do-gooders of independent means with zero understanding of human behaviour or even basic visual perspective.
‘Whoever it is they do your town a great disservice if they continue creating a “big brother” atmosphere.’
Visitors to the seaside town in Devon have complained about the passive-aggressive signs
The TripAdvisor reviewer said his day to the Devon town was ruined by the number of signs
Visitors to Dawlish are told not to ‘feed nesting birds’ in one of the many warnings in the town
Dawlish locals have sided with the tourist and said there were ‘too many negative signs’ in the town.
Martin Wrigley, current mayor of Dawlish, said: ‘I agree with the comments.
‘We have signs from Network Rail, Teignbridge District Council and a few from the Dawlish Town Council.
‘I hope we will be looking at both reducing the number of signs, and writing them in positive terms – for example encouraging visitors to use the duck food that we supply outside our waterfowl enclosure, rather than saying don’t feed bread to the birds. Dawlish’s Black Swans are a great attraction and people do like to feed them.
‘I also will be encouraging Network Rail and Teignbridge to likewise use fewer signs and with positive phrasing.’
Tourists are also warned against feeding seagulls, cycling and keeping dogs on leads
The reviewer said their trip to Dawlish was ruined by the numerous signs he spotted at every turn
The row about signs was sparked by a visitor who took to TripAdvisor in anger after a recent day trip to Dawlish
Former Mayor Howard Almond, 72, said: ‘I think to a certain extent he has a point.
‘There was another story where people were complaining about sign posts to things that were visible.
‘It’s a matter of how much information should you actually give. Some people say there isn’t enough information and some say there is too much.
‘I think we have to be careful about how many signs there are, but some things are necessary.
‘I can see where he is coming from, but we do have a problem with people visiting and feeding the wrong food to the ducks.
‘We get some very silly people who complain when you don’t tell them to do things.
‘It’s always a balance, it’s like telling people not to touch a coffee cup with hot liquid in it, some times you can go too far.’
He added: ‘We do constantly look at the number of signs and it will be reviewed.’