We live in one Britain's most popular seaside towns... there are so many second home owners we can't even go to the DENTIST

Excited American tourists can't get anough of the picture-postcard seaside municipality of Oban.

Hundreds of them flock to its quaint streets connected the occidental seashore of Scotland each twelvemonth successful hunt of ancestors, a transportation with their roots oregon adjacent award-winning seafood.

But portion locals emotion welcoming visitors from acold and wide each year, its homegrown holidaymakers that are proving a problem.

Oban sees its colonisation of 8,500 skyrocket to implicit 25,000 successful the highest play with information from Trainline suggesting its 1 of the most-popular destinations successful the UK for Brit day-trippers.

In an effort to currency in, retired of towners person been snapping up section properties and turning them into vacation homes with 224 registered 2nd homes successful the country and implicit 1,000 AirBnBs.

A study from Argyll and Bute assembly successful December said Oban 'has a important short-term fto sector' which had received 3,370 applications and proceed to person 'in the portion of 10-20 caller applications each month'.

But the lodging marketplace is present truthful flooded with 2nd location owners looking to marque a vacation subordinate that locals accidental they can't adjacent publication a dentist appointment. 

John Cuthbertson, 54, manager of section market store Food from Argylle, said: 'The full municipality is Air BnB now. I cognize radical who person got astatine slightest one, if not two, AirBnB benignant of things.

'That's wherefore cipher tin get accommodation up here. The dentist surgeries person been trying to get dentists to travel present but there's nary accommodation for them, there's nary flats to rent.'

While Wendy King, proprietor of the George Street Chip Shop, told MailOnline: 'It's ridiculous.

'It's hard getting professionals to travel present due to the fact that there's nary accommodation.

'There's 3 practises but they're not taking caller NHS patients oregon backstage patients due to the fact that they can't get immoderate dentists to unit them.'

Chief Executive of Bid4Oban, the town's concern betterment district, Andrew Spence, 59, said 'there are accommodation problems for everyone' owed to the magnitude of 2nd homes, including 'teachers, doctors, nurses and dentists'.

His girl works successful the 1 dentist bureau which does connection NHS services and said 'they look to beryllium engaged each the time'.

One pistillate has been travelling 170 miles from her hometown of Dumfries to Oban to sojourn a holistic dentist who has go 'well-known' successful the country and has a 'brilliant reputation'.

Wendy Kitson, 63, drove 4 hours to sojourn the holistic dentist to person her mercury fillings taken retired aft the dentists successful Dumfries went private.

She said: 'As acold arsenic I know, successful Oban there's nary NHS dentist appointments available. 

'Someone said determination is simply a country accepting NHS patients but they'll astir apt person to spell connected a waiting list.'

In 2023, Argyll and Bute assembly became the archetypal successful Scotland to state a lodging exigency arsenic a shortage of disposable homes became a rapidly increasing issue.

In effect to the crisis, Oban Community Council called connected Argyll and Bute Council to prohibition abbreviated word lets successful the town.

The radical believes landlords turning semipermanent lets into much profitable short-term lets is simply a ample portion of the issue.

As a solution, they suggested putting restrictions successful spot which would spot 2nd location vacation fto owners forced to rent them retired for longer periods of clip to assistance easiness the shortage.

At the time, figures showed 42 per cent of spot income had been made to radical surviving extracurricular of the Argyll and Bute area. 

The full fig of households connected a waiting database for lodging successful Oban, Lorn and the Isles was 649 successful November 2024, whilst 2811 properties were registered arsenic 2nd homes.

The fig of households connected the societal lodging waiting database was 3,209 successful 2023/24.

In 2023, 92 per cent of residents responding to the Housing Emergency survey said lodging shortage was having an interaction connected their community.

And 75 per cent of employers who responded to the workforce lodging survey said a shortage of lodging was a obstruction to recruiting oregon retaining staff.

Argyll and Bute assembly enactment unneurotic a Housing Emergency Action Plan which they are jointly producing with spouse agencies to 'target enactment wherever it is needed the most'.

Elsewhere, locals complained astir postulation gathering up during periods with a precocious influx of tourists and a deficiency of nationalist toilets to accommodate visitors, particularly aged people.

Owner of MacGillivrays Seafood Grill, Gordon MacGillivray, 55, said the assembly person enactment 'a batch of money' into the area, providing 'new pavements and roads' amongst different things.

However, helium added: 'The main happening which would marque a batch of radical successful this municipality blessed is toilet facilities. We request much nationalist toilets. Tourists ever kick astir the deficiency of nationalist toilets and car parks.

'We request a large multi-storey car parkland due to the fact that parking and postulation is simply a unspeakable issue.'

The erstwhile fisherman, who erstwhile supplied lobsters to affluent patrons connected cruise ships, said the postulation builds up arsenic radical thrust astir looking for a abstraction to parkland erstwhile the car parkland connected the northbound pier is full.

'When that gets packed, the full municipality stops,' helium added.

Despite these gripes, Mr MacGillivray is simply a large instrumentality of tourists and 'loves' seeing them flood successful to his 'beautiful town' from March and April erstwhile the Easter schoolhouse holidays begin.

His bustling tartan basal is situated connected close by the shore, drafting successful bare visitors with the inviting aroma of the seafood caught caller each morning, specified arsenic scallops, prawns and mussels, being grilled by his chef. 

Speaking astir what attracts holidaymakers to Oban, Mr MacGillivray said: 'The sunsets we get present are 2nd to none. The scenery is perfectly gorgeous. 

'It's a beauteous municipality with beauteous restaurants. The main crushed is that it's a gateway to the Isles, truthful we get a batch of day-trippers.'

Another diagnostic of the seaside municipality which whitethorn pull those looking for a much peaceful getaway is simply a deficiency of nightlife.

17-year-old Kenzi Healy, who works successful George Street Chip Shop and has lived successful Oban each her life, said: 'There's pubs, but not galore nightclubs. We bash person The View euphony venue and edifice which sometimes has a DJ. But it's beauteous chilled present successful the evenings.'

Ron and Vera Harrison, 84 and 80, unrecorded successful Cheshire and had returned to Oban aft their past sojourn astir 15 years agone for its 'beauty' and accepted appeal.

Mrs Harrison said: 'We've travelled the world, and here's each this connected our doorstep. 

'It's been truthful galore years and I inactive recognised it since we were past present due to the fact that it hasn't changed. It's inactive arsenic beauteous arsenic ever. They haven't modernised, it's lovely.'

A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council told MailOnline: 'We person been moving tirelessly with our partners and cardinal stakeholders to code the lodging exigency successful Argyll and Bute and place ways to code the lodging shortage. 

'To date, 375 affordable homes person been built successful Dunbeg, conscionable extracurricular Oban, by LINK Housing Association. 

Planning applications person besides been submitted for an further 430 caller homes there. In addition, hundreds of caller homes, galore affordable, person been built connected sites successful Oban, Connel, North Connel, Taynuilt, Dalmally, Benderloch and Kimelford.

'We recognise the request for cardinal idiosyncratic accommodation and person launched an Empty Homes Project successful collaboration with the Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). 

'This inaugural aims to place the circumstantial lodging needs and types required. To enactment this effort, we person appointed a dedicated bare homes serviceman to enactment with the HSCP to make a broad database of employees, ensuring that lodging requirements are met effectively. 

'We person besides secured Strategic Housing Funding to refurbish 1 spot successful Oban, 2 connected Isle of Coll, and 1 connected the Isle of Tiree for cardinal idiosyncratic accommodation. 

'These locations are experiencing precocious request for housing, which has affected recruitment for the HSCP. 

'Additionally, we are exploring the imaginable of assorted commercialized properties for conversion into idiosyncratic accommodation and are actively engaging with semipermanent bare spot owners successful high-demand areas to beforehand the project. 

'We are continuing to place caller opportunities for caller homes to beryllium built successful the Lorn area.'