Newquay van-lifers face clampdown

Restrictions on overnight parking could be enforced on Island Crescent

People who live in vans could be banned from staying overnight on some residential streets in Newquay.

Reports of anti social behaviour and a shortage of parking spaces have led to a consultation on the issue which finishes on Wednesday.

The consultation proposes parking restrictions on a number of streets.

One local businessman said that some employees had no choice but to live in vans because "there's not always accommodation for them to move into".

Van-lifer James: "They are putting them down as bad people or useless hangabouts whereas we all have jobs"

Cornwall Council is consulting on a number of proposals for highway restrictions in Newquay.

These include a ban on overnight parking on Trebarwith Crescent, Island Crescent and Bothwicks Road and parking restrictions in Bank Street, Beachfield Avenue, Glamis Road, Tredour Road and Trenance Lane.

• LISTEN: BBC Radio Cornwall hears from a woman who has lived in a van for 16 years

Newquay mayor Louis Gardner said "We have had a small number of inconsiderate people who have chosen to live on a residential street in vans for weeks or even months at a time, which is not bad in itself.

"But in this case they have chosen to act in an inconsiderate manner and it's the anti-social behaviour that is occasionally associated with them that has caused problems."

Outdoors instructors can often find nowhere else to live apart from a van says a businessman

Rob Barber, who runs an outdoor activity centre close to Newquay's beaches, said: "If somebody is qualified and wants to move their life down here there's not always accommodation for them to move into.

"In order to achieve that goal they have sometimes bought a van. It's often professional people who choose to live in vans, it's a way of life these days."

Professional plasterer James, who lives in a van, admitted there had been problems between locals and the "vanners".

"They are putting them down as bad people or useless hangabouts whereas we all have jobs," he said.