Activists have vowed to wreck JD Vance’s family holiday in the Cotswolds, telling him to expect a ‘resistance in waiting’ when he visits this summer.
The US Vice-President is expected to travel to the idyllic tourist hotspot alongside his wife Usha, 39, and their three young children, Ewan Blaine, Vivek and Mirabel, next month.
But there is a backlash among opponents of Donald Trump’s deputy – with pro-Palestine and climate campaigners among those promising to hold protests during his stay.
A group calling itself the ‘Stop Trump Coalition’ has declared it will emulate recent protests against Mr Vance on a family trip to Disneyland in California.
Last week, Disneyland visitors were left outraged after Mr Vance shut down rides so he could enjoy them with his children – and he previously faced protest placards during a skiing holiday in the US state of Vermont in March this year.
The Stop Trump Coalition alliance is said to include pro-Palestinian activists, climate campaigners and trade unions.
The pledges come as President Trump prepares to visit his two golf courses in Scotland from Friday, with Sir Keir Starmer lined up to meet him for talks in Aberdeen.
Mr Vance and his family are expected to arrive in Britain shortly after the US President’s five-day stay in Scotland.
The Stop Trump Coalition have told of plans to greet Mr Trump with banners and flags along roads and a beachside message visible from the sky.
Further action is intended for his proposed state visit expected to take place in September.
And they have now signalled similar opposition to Mr Vance’s British sojourn, with a spokesman saying: ‘We are meeting Trump with protests in Aberdeen and Edinburgh this month, and then in London and Windsor in September.
‘JD Vance is every bit as unwelcome in the UK as Donald Trump.
‘We remember how Vance cut short his ski trip in Vermont because he was so enraged by the sight of a few protesters.
‘We are sure that, even in the Cotswolds, he will find the resistance waiting.’
The Vice President strolled through Disneyland in Los Angeles, California, hand-in-hand with two of his children, Vivek and Mirabel, last Saturday – with a vast Secret Service security detail alongside them.
Barricades went up outside popular rides including Pirates of the Caribbean as K9 units stood guard.
An entourage of 50 bodyguards and Disney personnel was said to be involved.
The prospect of such a heavy security presence in the winding rural roads of The Cotswolds is likely to spark logjams in an already overly-congested area of the UK.
Locals in quiet Cotswolds villages have raged in recent months over their narrow roads becoming rat runs for traffic between TV star Jeremy Clarkson’s farm shop and his pub – after four series of his Clarkson’s Farm TV show has triggered an influx of tourists.
The route between his Diddly Squat Farm Shop in Chadlington and his Farmer’s Dog pub which is 12 miles away near Burford in Oxfordshire have been particularly clogged.
In the spring, local residents led by parish council leaders in villages nearest the pub urged internet bosses to redirect drivers using their Google Maps app, towards main roads rather than narrow village alternatives.
Clarkson himself has also made a plea to motorists on the pub’s website to use only main roads and not the smaller single-track lanes through quaint quiet villages which can appear on Google Maps as most direct routes between his farm shop and pub.
A message on the pub’s website now reads: ‘If you’re travelling to The Farmer’s Dog, especially from Diddly Squat Farm Shop, please use the main roads.
Elsewhere, social media and particularly TikTok has paid a part in overtourism in the area – with one tiny village feeling the brunt more than others.
Parking restrictions are being introduced on tourist coaches entering what has been dubbed England’s ‘most beautiful village’ which is invaded by a huge number of visitors every weekend.
The picturesque Cotswold village of Bibury can sometimes see as many as 20,000 visitors in a weekend, and up to 50 coaches parking there in a day.
Gloucestershire County Council has now announced a temporary traffic management trial.
Existing coach bays in the village centre temporarily closed and instead bus stops will be installed for safer passenger drop-off and pick-up.
The county council said it had worked with local coach operators, businesses, and the community to introduce the trial in the popular village.
Elsewhere, the hashtags #CastleCombe and #CastleCombeEngland are among the most searched for when it comes to English tourist spots.
Thanks to its starring role in films such as Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, Dr Doolittle and The Wolfman, the small Wiltshire village of Castle Combe has become a tourism honeypot year-round.
Yet the influx of crowds has prompted criticism among residents.
In 2023, furious locals claimed their privacy was being ‘invaded by drones’ as TikTokers tried to capture the perfect view of the village,
They also complained the community was being ruined by the rise of Airbnbs.
One resident said: ‘In the hotter months people pitch up like it is the beach which can be a bit annoying.
‘There are coaches that come and do guided tours of the Cotswolds so we will have those pitch up a few times a day.’
Then there is Bourton-on-the-Water, aka the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’ with its ornate stone bridges, where a number of residents are trying to convince the parish council to explore the radical solution of banning vehicles and introducing a drop off-point for tourists a 30-minute walk outside the village.
The village, 15 miles east of Cheltenham and with a population of 3,000, was given the ‘Venice’ label due to the number ornate stone bridges over the River Windrush.
Tens of thousands of tourists flock to the village every year – which is great for traders – but residents were growing increasingly frustrated with the congestion.
Parish and district councillor Jon Wareing last year said Bourton was buckling under the weight of an ever increasing number of daytrippers.
‘People can spend an hour in their car, driving around. Some of the ‘difficult’ behaviour that follows is because they get frustrated.
‘One of my neighbours asked this person not to park on his property and got threatened with violence. He said he knew where they lived if they did anything to his car and threatened to throw a brick through their window.’