POLICE and councillors have claimed the scale of drunken

disturbances which wrecked Christmas for holidaymakers and villagers were “exaggerated” by the press and social media.

As reported in the Review, a large traveller group ran amok at Whitemead Forest Park, with Parkend’s two pubs and the village shop closing “on police advice.”

Whitemead itself confirmed that 40 people had “caused disruption and distress to guests and staff by behaving in

an anti-social manner,” while general manager Mandy Thomas said she had never seen an incident like it in 20 years at the site.

But following investigations by Gloucestershire Police and the Forest of Dean Community Safety Partnership (FDCSP), Inspector Andrew Hodgetts said reports of trouble were blown out of proportion and no pubs had been told to close.

He said: “It appears following our investigation that the police were used as an excuse to close the doors of various establishments.

“The police did not order any pubs to close. The decision by pubs in deciding whether to open or not was left to the discretion of the licensee.

“However the perception by the public of this ‘police excuse’ resulted in the rumour that both Parkend and Lydney were on lock down, which absolutely did not happen,” he said.

Inspector Hodgetts, who is FDCSP chairman, claimed there had been a large amount of “misinformation” appearing on public posts and in some elements of the press.

He added: “This incident demonstrates that there is a big difference between crime and the fear of crime. Gloucestershire Constabulary will therefore continue to work with Whitemead to minimise the risk of similar incidents happening in the future.”

A statement by the FDCSP said: “The partners agreed that lessons needed to be learned as a result of the incident. However, it was established that the scale of the incident had been exaggerated in the press and on social media.” 

The Review revealed last month that the Fountain and Woodman pubs shut all Boxing Day, losing lucrative lunch reservations, alongside the village shop and café which stayed closed until December 28.

Fountain landlord Alan Hinton said at the time: “On Boxing Day, when we were fully booked, we closed all day on police advice, which was a massive hit for us.”

Caroline Hinton, who works at the Woodman pub, said: “The police asked us to close all Christmas and Boxing days. It’s put a real damper on Christmas for so many.”

In Lydney, The Swan pub, 3 Hill Street club and Bargain Booze also reportedly closed early on Boxing Day amid the reports of rowdy behaviour and damage.

Some posts on social media over the Christmas period claimed the police response had been inadequate, but a Gloucestershire Police spokesman said officers had worked with holiday park staff to manage and resolve “a challenging situation” after the initial reports of anti-social behaviour on December 23. 

Whitemead closed all its bar, restaurant and swimming facilities in a bid to contain the disruption, which saw a 16-year-old arrested and cautioned. 

Several holidaymakers said they cut short their stay at Whitemead after witnessing incidents of drunken fighting and shouting late into the night.