SHOCKED tenants and owners have remained defiant after being told to leave their caravans, in the hope a solution can be found.

Parkdean Resorts runs 67 holiday parks across the country including Highfield Grange and Valley Farm in Clacton, Weeley Bridge in Weeley, Naze Marine in Walton, and Coopers Beach on Mersea Island.

After Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country on lockdown, park managers were told to tell anyone staying on the sites to go.

Jo Hiscock, 50, is a carer at Brenalwood Residential Home, in Walton, and divides her living arrangements between Reading and Darlington.

She owns a caravan on the Naze Marine site in which she stays when she travels to Walton to work.

She said: “I told them I am a carer but I was told I had to leave by 5pm. It is disgusting.

“I feel totally gutted because I could be doing my part to help the elderly right now.

“I am a key worker but clearly that doesn’t matter, and they are stopping me from looking after the elderly.

“I just feel completely in limbo and right now I can’t work.”

Tenants and caravan owners at Valley Farm, in Clacton, were told at 11am on Tuesday they had just two hours to leave.

Some people live in the park throughout the year, and were left concerned as to where they would go at such short notice.

Other caravan owners staying at the site on a permanent basis also included a care worker who usually lives at home with her vulnerable dad.

She had moved out to protect him from getting infected with coronavirus.

The woman said: “Five men came knocking on my door telling me I had to leave.

“They threatened to revoke my licence if I refused, but I said I wasn’t going home and risking my dad’s health.

“People were crying and it was heartbreaking.”

A spokesman for Parkdean Resorts said the company was working to resolve the matter.

He said: “The message to owners was clear when they were sent letters - that if they were not able to leave the park, then they should speak with the general manager.

“We want to make sure we are not sending people off site if they do not have somewhere to live.

“We are hoping to resolve this so that all those concerned can stay on the park.”