MINEHEAD town councillors this week took drastic steps to prevent serious public health issues being caused by the invasion of motorhomes cashing in on free overnight parking on the seafront.

They went into action after being told that Somerset County Council, which controls the area’s parking, had no intention of intervening in the situation.

Claiming that unsupervised camping by up to 50 motorhomes on Quay West and Quay Street is putting residents at risk, councillors agreed at their meeting on Tuesday to change the opening hours of the Quay West public toilets in an effort to deter motorhome owners from using them.

They also passed an emergency motion giving the toilet’s owners, Somerset West and Taunton Council, six months’ notice that they intend to surrender the five-year lease on the building, which expires in 2023, because of spiralling costs mainly caused by motorhome owners.

Angry councillors agreed to write to county council leader David Fothergill protesting that the authority had failed to protect Minehead from a coronavirus threat posed by the motorhome influx.

The letter also called for urgent talks with county and district officers and councillors to work out emergency measures and a longer-term management plan.

It added: “We cannot emphasise strongly enough the stress, anxiety and frustration of Minehead residents over the very real danger of Covid-19 spreading from the alarmingly-growing number of UK hot-spots to this unsupervised campsite.”

Councillors agreed to open the Quay West toilets at 11am and close them at 4pm from September to next February after the mayor, Cllr Paul Bolton, said this would probably deter visiting motorhomes.

He said that overnight visitors used the toilets in the early morning to fill their water tanks and dispose of waste. They would return in early evening in order to use the toilets before they closed. It had been found that when the toilets were not available, the number of motorhomes parking at Quay West considerably decreased.

Councillors had previously been told that Minehead residents were now paying up to £1,000 a month to keep the West Quay toilets open. A water bill of £800 had been run up mainly by motorhome owners filling their tanks with hosepipes.

Toilets had been blocked and damaged, fittings smashed and the property frequently flooded.

Acting town clerk Bryan Howe said the council took on a five-year lease from the district council in 2018 after the authority closed all its toilets. The town council had kept them open ever since, despite continual vandalism and now continual problems with visiting motorhomes.

He believed that if the lease was surrendered it was unlikely that the toilets would ever re-open. The district council no longer operated any toilets in the area. No help was available to finance maintenance and repairs and the council had a full repairing lease.

Cllr Terry Venner proposed that the district council be told that the council intended to surrender the lease of the toilets: “I would be reluctant to see them closed but with all the problems we are having at the moment we would be justified in handing them back. We have had a raw deal ever since we took over the lease.”

He added: “We should invite county and district council representatives to get round the table with us and try to sort the Quay West problems out.”

For the full report, see tomorrow’s Free Press.