The Holiday may have received mixed reviews upon its release in 2006, but over the subsequent years it has firmly cemented itself as a modern Christmas classic.
A mainstay on late-night ITV2 and one of Netflix’s big hitters during the festive season, it’s hard to avoid the Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black-led Christmas rom-com each year, not that we’d want to.
Like Love Actually, the movie employs the unbeatable combination of British people, romance and Christmas – but if you have plans to visit the village of Shere this festive season to reenact your favourite scenes, you might want to think again.
Yup, thanks to Bridget Jones (which was filmed there too!) and The Holiday, film fans have been flocking to the tiny Surrey village as Christmas approaches every year.
Tourists visit to try and spot Kate Winslet’s quaint cottage which Cameron Diaz calls home in the film (which was actually purposely built for The Holiday), or enjoy a pint at The White Horse Pub a la Jude Law.
Despite the town’s popularity, it’s safe to say that locals are far from impressed by the movie buffs – who travel from all over the world to visit – taking up space.
Josh Cooper, The White Horse Pub’s assistant manager recently told The Telegraph: “We get international tourists every day. A lot of Americans, but also Australians, South Africans. People from all over.”
According to reports, residents of Shere say that they are forced to stay in their homes as their high street is packed with tourists every single winter.
As a result, members of Shere Parish Council have been planning to introduce both parking and toilet charges in a bid to deter visitors to the village.
Meanwhile, residents have reportedly taken to vandalising tourists’ cars to show their distaste.
“The parking issue has been going on for months. I know of at least two cars that were keyed because someone didn’t like where they were parked,” one anonymous business owner previously told MailOnline.
The over-tourism has even led to some locals wanting to move away altogether.
An anonymous villager told The Sun: “It’s become so bad now that we want to move, which is such a shame as it’s a beautiful village, with lots of lovely walks around it, but the invasion is just too much.”
Another resident added: ”“The village has become a complete tourist trap and the other day a fire engine struggled to get down the road as there were cars parked down both sides.”
A decision by Shere Parish Council was set to be made on Wednesday, 15 November, but nothing has been announced as of yet.