Our ancient city is overrun by Harry Potter fans who pee in street & litter everywhere… now we’re getting our revenge
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RESIDENTS of an historic city say it is overrun by Harry Potter fans who wee in the street and litter everywhere. As a result, locals in York have welcomed a proposed tourist tax on visitors as a form of sweet revenge. The city attracted nine million tourists last year to its famous Roman Walls, Medieval Minster, Yorvik Museum and the bustling Shambles shopping street - which inspired Diagon Alley in the Potterverse.
![[Tourists regularly flock to The Shambles, which inspired Diagon Alley in Harry Potter]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/picture-tourist-landmark-street-shambles-958527644.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
But tourists coming to get selfies in the famous spots make weekends "Hell on Earth", it is claimed. Now the council thinks these visitors should pay a European-style levy - possibly adding £1 to each hotel bill - to help in the upkeep of the city. And the residents of York agree.
![[Bev Wilson said the tax would be helpful in improving the city]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pictured-bev-wilson-resident-vox-958527171.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Hospital nurse Julie Smith, 34, told The Sun: "York is teeming with tourists at times, coming here for the Harry Potter type of experience down the Shambles and the Roman walls etc. “You can’t move at times for people taking selfies down the Shambles.
![[Retired accounts assistant Alan Brown, 64, moved to the city from Essex]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pictured-alan-brown-64-resident-958527034.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
“I think asking visitors to York to pay a small fee is not unreasonable.”. Cleaner Shane Sayner, 47, told MailOnline: "It’s absolutely dreadful now with all the hen parties and racegoers. "There aren't enough toilets so people urinate in doorways and you can smell it in the mornings.
![[York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/picture-tourist-landmark-york-minster-958527745.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"It gets chaotic from around 1pm on a Saturday. Parents will take their kids into town and there will be people screaming drunk, waving inflatable genitalia.". She added that there's a "foghorn of noise, vomiting, urinating - it's horrible". Retired accounts assistant Alan Brown, 64, moved to the city from Essex six years ago, and now calls the Yorkshire city home.
![[The world famous York Race Course]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/picture-york-world-famous-york-958527988.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
