In pictures: Why people camp

Stephen Rhodes takes his family camping because he can "let the kids run wild" in a safe environment.

The Brown family, from Basildon, like camping near the beach and say it is "more relaxed" than other kinds of breaks.

And if babies like Chelsea make noise on the campsite, it does not matter too much, her mother Angela Brown says.

Ryan Vaughan, five, (left), sister Lucy, almost one, and brother Connor, three, are sleeping in a tent for the first ever time this summer.

These children, all from Hornchurch, Essex, say they are happy to help with chores like washing up on the campsite.

And their mothers Trudy Ross, Bev Nicholls and Carmen Sullivan, say they enjoy the "freedom" they and their children get from camping.

Campsites like Waldegraves Holiday Park, which are next to the beach, often prove popular with families.