THE new owners of Newnham-on-Severn's Victoria Hotel are asking villagers to give them a break after a series of upsets.

Lynne and John Andrews bought the historic hotel two months ago and immediately began extensive refurbishment of the interior and exterior.

But in seeking to ensure that the land in front of the building is used for parking by hotel customers – and hopefully a small area of outside seating – the couple feel they have alienated some members of the community who are just not being fair.

They have met further criticism by questioning the right of Stagecoach buses to stop on their forecourt, and among other setbacks they have suffered a major robbery.

Lynne says she feels everything is against them when they are trying their best to make the Victoria – and the upper end of Newnham – as attractive and welcoming as possible.

The couple formerly ran the Butcher's Arms in Clearwell, where they enjoyed a very successful couple of years, and moved into the Victoria on March 13 with their son Tom, six, who goes to school in Cinderford.

"I had one lady who was very rude this morning when I told her the parking space was for hotel customers. She said 'we are customers' but she was going shopping.

"If she had been coming to the hotel she would have appreciated having a space to park. But she said 'we have always parked here – where do you expect us to park?' and just went on.

"It happens quite a lot. The trouble is people think we are being unreasonable, not them – it is losing us custom. If drivers want to come here and can see no space they just go on."

John added: "The problem with the bus on the forecourt is not us being petty – our insurance can't cover us for injuries if somebody was hit by a bus on our land.

"Also people are using our facilities and leaving rubbish when they wait for buses. We even had one chap who parked outside, caught a bus and came back eight hours later, used our toilets and drove off!"

Lynne added: "We just want to say to the people of Newnham we love the hotel and the village – but give us a fair chance, we really do want to make a go of it.

"Along with the bad feeling we have some loyal people who say they are on our side, so it isn't all bad – it's just that sometimes you feel everything is against you.

"With the robbery on top of things – an opportunist came in in daylight, found the safe keys and made off with £1,500 – it is hard to get going, especially when we are using all our own money on the work."

She said they were not being difficult about keeping spaces free for customers in the front – elderly customers in particular found it difficult to use the steps from the rear car park, especially with suitcases.

She was also happy for the area to be used by people going to church on Sunday and always willing to discuss problems such as disabled people needing to stop for a while.