'I feel afraid' - Man's fears over lockdown visitors to village
Bob Thurston, 87, who is afraid to leave his house in Overstrand because of the number of people visiting the village. - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2021
An octogenarian has told of how he feels scared to leave his house because of the number of visitors to his seaside village.
Bob Thurston, 87, said more should be done to prevent people coming to places like Overstrand, in north Norfolk, where lives, and acting as though the pandemic was not happening.
Mr Thurston, who has lived by himself since his wife, Olive, died around 18 months ago, said: "I'm really scared to go out. I live about 200 metres away from the clifftop, last Sunday afternoon I saw it and it was just like a summer's day with all the people down there. You wouldn't believe it.
"They should monitor the car parks and those people breaking the law should be punished.
"I was a soldier abroad in the Cold War. I tell you what, I didn't feel afraid then but I do feel afraid now."
Bob Thurston, 87, who is afraid to leave his house in Overstrand because of the number of people visiting the village. - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2021
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Mr Thurston is a former parish and district councillor who has lived in the village for 66 years.
He said there were a lot of elderly residents in Overstrand, and people from other parts of Norfolk and the rest of the country should spare a thought for anyone who was vulnerable to coronavirus when deciding where to go for their 'daily exercise'.
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He said: "We've had people in the village who have had the disease and it's scaring the elderly. I'm scared to go down to the shops.
"I think something should be done to stop this influx. People aren't abiding by the law. "We have a lot of holiday homes here as well, and there have been people coming down from Cambridge, from Suffolk and from Lincolnshire. It's dreadful, they could be spreading the disease about."
The beach at Overstrand. - Credit: Chris Bishop
Mr Thurston said he was lucky to have a good neighbour who did his shopping and collected the medicine he needed and brought it to his door.
"I'm a Type 2 diabetic so I'm high risk," he said.
Many community support groups that were established during the first lockdown have continued operating through to the second wave of the virus. These include Cromer Cares and Sheringham Community Support.
