Residents of Boscawen Road and Cliff Road in Falmouth, Cornwall have spoke of havoc, claiming increasing numbers of campervanners are treating the area as a “free campsite”, The Sun has reported.
They claim one 52-seater coach that allegedly houses a family of five has been parked up since March.
Other vans have reportedly appeared in recent weeks as the summer holiday season gets under way.
There are not currently any overnight parking restrictions on the road.
Pensioner Pam Fuller, 86, has lived on Boscawen Road overlooking the popular Gyllyngvase beach for 40 years.
She said: “This is a beautiful place. It used to be lovely to see parents parking here with their children for an hour or so, or elderly people enjoying the view and sea air.
“But they’ve all been pushed out. Once the campervans have got their spot they mostly stay put for weeks or even months.”
Related: Falmouth sea front parking restrictions to go to public consultation
Her husband, Geoff Fuller, 88, said: “Our road has been turned into an unofficial, free camp site with no facilities.
“The nearest toilets are hundreds of yards away on the beaches and it’s obvious, by the smell, that some of the van occupants don’t bother using them. They just go in the bushes or the woods.
“We know that you can’t buy a view. But neither should you be able to treat a public road like this.”
Speaking to The Sun Online, one resident who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “The woods and bushes stink like a cesspit. What’s happening is a disgrace.
“I’ve walked past the vans during the day and it’s very obvious, from the loud sounds coming from inside, that people are having sex.
“That’s not right or fair on parents and children walking alongside on the pavement.
“Residents here are not wealthy. We’ve worked hard all our lives for nice houses and we pay our taxes.
“Yet right opposite, just yards away, we’re effectively lumbered with a pop-up festival site.”
Another said: “I was told by one camper that he was living there while his own home was up for rent on Airbnb.
“That’s like putting two fingers up to us.”
Some Boscawen Road residents were more sympathetic.
One woman said: “There are people living in those vans because they can’t afford a home.
Related: Council suspends Helmsley overnight parking for campervans and motorhome
“The coach houses a family of five. What are they supposed to do?”
At a Falmouth Town Council meeting earlier this month councillors were told a “working group” had been set up to liaise between camper van owners and residents.
The University of Exeter, which has a Falmouth campus, had also earmarked £5,000 for research on the problem as some students were among the van dwellers.
Falmouth town mayor Steve Eva said the main complaint he received was about the state of the vans.
“Some of the vans are quite pleasant, and made an effort with,” he said. “And then [there’s] another van in which they have made no effort at all and have been quite abusive to people.”
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