![\"Newquay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/newquay-vans.png\")
<\/p>\nA clifftop car park near one of Cornwall’s most spectacular beaches has become a battleground between a determined community of nomadic van-dwellers and homeowners with properties valued upwards of \u00a3750,000.<\/p>\n
Little Fistral in Newquay, a stretch of coastline frequently likened to the Mediterranean thanks to its turquoise waters and golden sand, draws some 2.2 million visitors each year. <\/p>\n
Yet alongside the tourists, a committed group of ‘van-lifers’ have pitched up on the headland, parking converted vans with sweeping ocean views.<\/p>\n
Their proximity to Headland Road – brimming with stunning properties – has fuelled escalating tensions with homeowners, as reported by The Sun newspaper.<\/p>\n
Confrontations have turned physical, with reports of residents punching van-dwellers, spitting at them, and scratching their vehicles.<\/p>\n
Just this month, 31 van occupants were issued eviction notices, giving them just two days to vacate.<\/p>\n
Tom Dawes, a 46-year-old from Essex, is among those who call the car park home. <\/p>\n
A survivor of both bone cancer and lung cancer who spent nearly five years in hospital as a young man, he now lives in a converted van with his two dogs, Betty and Dolly, on roughly \u00a3400 a month.<\/p>\n
Just this month, 31 van occupants were issued eviction notices, giving them just two days to vacate<\/p>\n
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“It’s the best thing I ever did,” he said, adding: “Trying to struggle to pay for a roof over my head was the most stressful, depressing thing I think I ever did. I probably should have been dead in 1997, so every day is a bonus.”<\/p>\n
Mr Dawes described how a group of hostile residents organised against the van community. <\/p>\n
He said: “It was basically like pitchforks – one guy called my friend scum, so he went after him, asking what his problem was, and this man attacked him, punched him in the head.<\/p>\n
“People have been spat at and abused and had their vans scratched.”<\/p>\n
However, he acknowledged the frustration of nearby homeowners, and said: “Imagine you had a multi-million-pound house on the beach, and then we come and park out here – it’s not ideal for them.”<\/p>\n
George Vincent, 28, from Southampton, has shared van life with his girlfriend on and off for eight years, with their vehicle costing \u00a39,500, and monthly expenses remaining below \u00a3500.<\/p>\n
One single mother who has spent more than two years living in a van with her young son pointed to the housing crisis as a driving factor.<\/p>\n
“It’s too expensive to rent a flat since people started changing their properties into holiday rentals, so it’s a problem society has created,” she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Newquay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785108501_297_newquay-vans.png\")
The council-owned car park also serves as access to Towan Beach<\/p>\n
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GOOGLE MAPS<\/p>\n
Local residents counter that the van-dwellers use public facilities and bins without contributing to the community.<\/p>\n
One homeowner complained: “They use the facilities and the bins, but don’t pay for the privilege, so it doesn’t seem very fair on those of us who do pay.”<\/p>\n
Cornwall Council has since served eviction notices on 31 members of the van-dwelling community, though at least one reportedly vowed to return. <\/p>\n
The council-owned car park also serves as access to Towan Beach.<\/p>\n
Councillor Joanna Kenny, who represents the area, said: “The legal ramifications of dealing with this sort of activity on an off-road parking area are very complex and are still being resolved.”<\/p>\n
A local toilet block has been repeatedly shut following vandalism – damage the van-lifers deny causing. <\/p>\n
Newquay Town Council warned that “continued misuse of these facilities and any abuse of staff will not be tolerated.”<\/p>\n
Devon and Cornwall Police said they had assisted the council’s civil enforcement team, but stressed the situation “primarily remains a local authority matter.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A clifftop car park near one of Cornwall’s most spectacular beaches has become a battleground between a determined…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35884,59,57,58,50,117384,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-712706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-across-the-uk","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-south-west","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}