AS thousands jet off for holidays abroad, labelled `a sin against the planet' by the Bishop of London this week, one family has found it is fun to stay right here in Worcestershire - camping in their own back garden.

Topsy Beves and her late husband, Toby, an anaesthetist at Kidderminster General Hospital, first took their four children for a holiday in the garden at Longbank, Bewdley, about 25 years ago and now their six grandchildren are happily keeping up the tradition.

It all began when the couple bought a new caravan and their children, Jonathan, Tiffany, Susanna and Gerard, could not wait to try it out. "There are three acres of garden, so there was plenty of space," said Susanna, now 37, who was 12 at the time.

"We all got in the car, drove three times round the garden to make us feel we were going away and then parked the caravan behind some trees. We had fields to run around in.

"We could go to the house for a shower, but it was locked up during the day, so we couldn't go back in. It's the only time I remember the whole family staying down there, but camping in the garden had always been a family favourite.

"We used to put up our tent, organise our own food and stay there all summer.

"Several times we had big gatherings when everyone piled up with their tents. It was magical."

Nowadays the family is dispersed, with Susanna in Berlin, Tiffany in northern France, Jonathan in Cambridge and Gerard currently in Norfolk.

He is married to Lena, a Romany gipsy, and they live permanently in a caravan with their little girl.

"When they come to stay, they pull up in the shade of the old apple tree," said Topsy, aged 75, who made sure the tent was up and the paddling pool in place for Tiffany's three children when they came to stay on Tuesday.

Bishop Richard Chartres grabbed the headlines this week by saying that flying was a sin, explaining that it had moral consequences, because of its effect on the planet. He said people should not ignore the consequences of their actions.

Susanna said: "It's a very strong way of putting it, but I do think there are many ways of taking a holiday without flying. The first time I flew was when I was 17 and I never felt I suffered for not having holidays abroad, but I suppose people have limited time for holidays and want to get there faster and get more out of it."

For her own holiday this year, she is going to take the train to the Black Forest.