Residents of a picturesque seaside Cornish town have accused neighbours of leaving so little space with poor parking that an ambulance couldn’t drive down a residential street and was forced to reverse out.
Motorists were slammed as photos were shared on social media showing parked cars leaving tiny gaps blocking access for passing vehicles on Clare Terrace in coastal Falmouth, Cornwall.
A local who said they were a paramedic said they ‘couldn’t get past the inconsiderate parkers’ when driving down the road in their ambulance recently, forcing them to ‘reverse back up the road and turn around and come the other way’.
The street is just a short walk from the waterfront in the busy town which has seen a surge in popularity in recent years but has left ‘not enough room for all the cars’ – and residents are saying the problem is getting worse.
Residents of picturesque Cornwall town Falmouth have hit out against neighbours who park badly, saying there is no space for cars and emergency vehicles to drive through
A line of drivers mounting the pavement to park in Penryn, Cornwall – which neighbours Falmouth – last year
A photo of shocking parking on Clare Terrace shows a large pick-up truck and a van parked over a speed bump, leaving a small gap down the centre of the hump.
But some drivers in Falmouth have complained that their cars are now more likely to be damaged if left parked on the road.
Residents of neighbouring town Penryn have also previously complained about the streets being affected by dangerous and inconsiderate parking.
The resident who said they were paramedic said: ‘A couple of weeks ago I drove along there in my ambulance and couldn’t get past the inconsiderate parkers. I had to reverse back up the road and turn around and come in the other way.
‘If you can’t park up close to the wall, with your wheels straight and fold your mirror in then don’t park there is my advice.
‘This is my street and I have had so much damage done to my cars it’s unbelievable. The “wall” side of the road seriously needs double yellow lines. We struggled to pass this morning in a Golf. In the last six months it’s got so much worse.’
Falmouth resident Michael Doust, who took the images, said he reported it to the police who told him it is not an offence or causing an obstruction.
It is the job of Cornwall Council’s traffic enforcement officers to deal with vehicles parked on double yellow lines or not abiding by parking rules. But if the vehicle is causing a danger or obstruction where it is located the police will assist, according to the Devon and Cornwall Police website.
Falmouth resident Michael Doust, who took the images, said he reported it to the police who told him it is not an offence or causing an obstruction. Pictured: The Cornwall town
Residents of Cornwall have expressed concerns that their hometowns are turning into ‘ghost towns’ amid a huge boom in the number of Airbnb holiday homes now dominating coastal beauty spots in England and Wales.
Figures revealed the number of ‘entire places’ for rent in seaside towns has swelled by 56 per cent between 2019 and 2022, compared to 15 per cent in non-coastal communities.
‘I was there the other week delivering and it’s an absolute joke,’ one Falmouth local said as they hit out at inconsiderate drivers.
‘They obviously have absolute no common sense. You watch them all cry when their cars get damaged by people getting through.’
Another complainant said: ‘Unfortunately this is like this all over Falmouth and Penryn. There’s just not enough space anywhere for all of the cars.
‘I live on Oakfield Road [on the other side of Falmouth] and come nighttime there are three to five cars, sometimes more, parked on the pavement outside my home. I’ve had to do this myself at times as there is nowhere to park all the way along Oakfield and Acacia Road.
‘Thankfully there’s plenty of room for buses and emergency service vehicles to get through, and another pavement opposite that no one can park on thankfully. This is not going to get better, only worse.’
One bewildered local said they could not believe how people parked, calling it ‘plain crazy’, ‘irresponsible’ and ‘totally selfish’.
Residents of getaway hotspot St Ives, Cornwall, hit out earlier this year against tourists who were turning the town into a ‘theme park’.
Families who have lived in the town for generations are being forced out as millionaires bank up land or homes, renting them out for up to £7,000 a week.
A rush for second homes since Covid and more flexible jobs has brought misery to residents of Cornwall’s most popular towns, with soaring house values pricing young people out of the housing market.
Around 540,000 day trippers and more than 220,000 staying tourists visit St Ives every year, with the tourism industry accounting for around 2,800 jobs in the area – that’s almost one in four people who live there.
But the small streets are rammed and finding a parking space can be nigh-on impossible during busy periods.
Parking spaces are so valuable across Cornwall that last year a village became overrun with tourists’ vehicles after holiday companies advertised it as ‘all parking free of charge’.
Locals in Flushing said last year that they could not park anywhere after holidaymakers started using their home as a car park.
They said that tourists were being directed there and travel to nearby resorts where parking can be expensive.