Three freedom campers have been caught in the act using a quaint church on the West Coast as their private camp - and bathroom - during ex-tropical Cyclone Gita.
A local mother and daughter, who did not want to be named, confronted the visitors on separate occasions after witnessing one urinating in the church yard of St Aiden and St Columba Church in Kowhitirangi-Kokatahi and discovering a not-so-welcome "donation" of human faeces on the roadside.
"It absolutely stinks as a toilet down there. It is disgusting," the woman said.
The pair said the problem was also happening at the nearby Hokitika Gorge, despite public toilets being available there.
The actions of the offending freedom campers and number plate have been reported to police, as well as the Wicked Camper hire company, due to the suspected breach of contract conditions which stipulate only two people could occupy the type of van they were travelling in.
Hokitika woman Anthea Keenan, who contacted the Guardian about the matter, said it was a perfect example of the ongoing freedom camping problem.
"We can all make excuses - that it was windy weather so they pulled up - but they shouldn't have been out there.
"There were plenty of warnings. They could have been parked up at a camping ground, paying their way."
- By Janna Sherman of the Hokitika Guardian
