Caravans look likely to make a comeback this summer, as high bills, the low pound and environmental concerns drive holidaymakers back to Britain's camp sites.

According to the National Caravan Council, many young parents are also nostalgic for the seaside holidays of their childhood and want to keep their children away from television and computer screens.

Figures from the NCC reveal a 20 per cent rise in camp site bookings for July and August, while trade in caravans also appears to be rising.

One of Britain's biggest caravan holiday companies, Haven Holidays, reports a 30 per cent rise in bookings, with families scrambling to find places for this week's half-term break.

Meanwhile, Gumtree, a leading classified advertising internet website listing caravans and camper vans for sale or to rent, has reported a 300 per cent increase in postings.

Celebrity campers, including Mark Owen, of the pop group Take That, the actress Patsy Palmer and the former Formula One driver Mark Blundell, may also have helped to popularise caravan holidays.

City firms, landowners and farmers seem keen to cash in. Weststar caravan parks has been sold to Alchemy Partners for £83 million, leaving the Dragon's Den star Deborah Meaden with a 23 per cent stake worth £19 million, while private equity firm Graphite Capital snapped up 19 parks from Cinque Ports Leisure for £130 million.

Some of Britain's grandest estates welcome campers. Sandringham, in Norfolk, owned by the Queen, Chatsworth House, in Derbyshire, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and Holkham Hall, also in Norfolk, home of Viscount Coke, heir to the Earl of Leicester, all run caravan parks.

Lord Coke, 42, who is president of the Caravan Club, is enjoying the open air this weekend with 3,000 others at the club's annual rally.

He and his family have moved out of their 18th-century mansion to sleep in a 22ft Airstream Safari “internal land yacht”. Built in 1965, it has air-conditioning and a full-size fridge and was acquired second-hand for £15,000.

Lord Coke said: “I've always loved being outdoors and the great thing about a caravan is that you open the door and you're immediately in the open air. If you stay in a house, it can take two or three hours to get outside.”

His first camping experience was as a small boy, staying in a static caravan owned by his grandmother at Mother Ivy's Bay, north of Padstow, in Cornwall. A favourite treat for his four children now is a weekend away at a caravan park in Cromer.

He has become something of an evangelist for caravan parks. Research by the Caravan Club has found that its members contribute £44million a year to the rural economy.

But Lord Coke rails against councils who try to block new parks. The Historic Houses Association and the Country Land and Business Association say members interested in setting up a park are often thwarted by local planners. Certified locations from the Caravan Club appear to be the solution. This means that after inspection from a club official, a farmer can offer pitches with electricity and water to a maximum of five caravans without the bother of seeking planning permission.

This year spaces at 2,500 certified locations are in record demand.

Simon Groom, the former BBC Blue Peter presenter, and his wife, Gilly, have pitches for five caravans at their Grade II-listed Manor Farm, in Dethick, near Matlock, in the foothills of the Derbyshire Peak District.

He said: “We took over the farm from my parents three years ago and this year we have been inundated with requests, more than ever before.

“There is definitely a trend and probably to do with money being tight. But I also think people get stressed out by modern life and these days caravans are so sophisticated, with their mod cons and satellite TV, people don't have to rough it.”

Campers are charged £8 a night for their caravan, £1 for electricity and 50p to put up an awning. Mr Groom's other businesses include rearing sheep, letting land to a sheep farmer, television production studios and running a bed and breakfast.

Six tenant farms at Holkham are also certified caravan locations and they too report a rise in bookings.