MASSIVE camper vans are swarming to park illegally at a Poole harbourside park and nothing is being done to deter them.

Residents of Baiter Park say in the summer, particularly at weekends, there are often six to eight parked up at the pay-and-display car park.

"They have got one of the best views on the South Coast, toilets nearby and all for 60p a night," said David Howard. "I think it's ludicrous."

He said the large vans, some of which cost £40,000-50,000, were parked much closer than would be allowed on a camping site and he had seen one on Catalina Drive using a gas cylinder placed on the road.

"I would have thought that the recent fatal accident at Whitecliff would have alerted the council to the potential danger in this practice," he said.

At the end of August watersports enthusiast Mark Elliott, 57, was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation, when his camper van, parked in the road at Whitecliff, caught fire.

Notices at Baiter forbid overnight sleeping and cooking, threatening a £60 fine for any breaches of the regulations.

Mr Howard said one of the camping organisations even recommended Poole for its generous facilities.

But when residents have complained to the Borough of Poole's transportation services they say they have been told nothing can be done.

The council has admitted that it is not enforcing its own regulations because it cannot legally do so.

"Currently we do not enforce against overnight camping in car parks using penalty notices due to legal constraints," said Steve Tite, acting head of transportation.

"We have used warning notices to act as a deterrent and we are also investigating any other powers that might be available to us.

"The council's transportation advisory group will also be considering this issue at their next meeting on November 30," he said.

The legal position

THE council took over parking restrictions from the police in 2002 as part of the Decriminalised Parking Enforcement arrangements.

They were given powers to enforce a certain number of parking offences such as not displaying a ticket in a pay and display car park, or parking on yellow lines.

However these powers did not include camping, cooking, washing and a variety of other activities.

Therefore while the pay and display parking areas in Labrador and Catalina Drives have a prohibition on these activities, the council is unable to enforce it.