Whitby is a nice place. The town centre is compact and is not full of the same predictable chain stores as many other towns, having a lot more small independent shops.

One aspect of Whitby that is not at all good however is the large number of local chavs who drive around the town in a circuit in their noise enhanced cars or mopeds. Sitting in our apartment last summer in an evening was often akin to sitting next to a grand prix circuit, as they accelerated down the narrow streets, and then slowed their engines down quickly as they approach a junction, causing explosive sounding backfiring.

The noise is just as obvious, though annoying in a different way, when trying to have a little peace close to the abbey, where the noise carries easily over the estuary. The police seem unwilling to come down heavily on these chavs, preferring the softly softly approach and treating them as adults, which seems to have been a complete failure, and also putting the onus on MOT testers to identify faults.

If all this sounds familiar to you when you have visited Whitby, then please complain to the Police and the Tourist board. Until this antisocial behaviour has been completed removed, I will not be visiting Whitby again, which is a pity, as there are not many alternative resorts of the same quality.