Revealed: The 6ft 4ins former cop and parish clerk team policing Polzeath's ... trends now
A 6ft 4ins former cop and a parish clerk have been revealed as the team policing Polzeath's parking by using hundreds of cones to deter tourists and locals from blocking the roads.
Beach ranger Andy Stewart and St Minver Lowlands Parish Council clerk Marnie Court are behind the bright yellow markers which have been deployed to stop the rogue motorists.
Their intervention comes after the Cornwall village has become overrun in recent years with holidaymakers and surfers with problem parkers causing backlogs and delays.
Pictures from the main road of the tourist village, which is popular for its famous beach, show dozens of cones spaced out at regular intervals to prevent parking.
But Mr Stewart, 54, explains the situation has been caused by a 'parking anomaly' due to rain stopping the council from putting in double yellow lines after the single yellow lines were removed.
Andy Stewart (pictured) is the muscular 54-year-old Polzeath beach ranger who is behind the hundreds of cones which have appeared in the Corish village to control rogue parkers
Pictures from the main road of the tourist village, which is popular for its famous beach, show dozens of cones spaced out at regular intervals to prevent parking
Local authorities in Polzeath turned to cones to deter problem parkers as wet weather delayed double yellow lines from being painted
He said the situation of no yellow lines caused people to 'totally understandably' take part in chaotic parking free-for-all.
But he said they did not take into account that their actions would cause 'traffic carnage'.
'We are kind of lucky here since we have the beach ranger service we are able to challenge it. I am sure there are a lot of towns and villages around the country that would just have to put up with it', he said.
'Our primary concern is safety, the chances of the emergency services wanting to get through is remote but we did not want any gridlock to stop them taking the road through.'
Mr Stewart, who began working as a beach ranger in 2019, explains his operation works with the two parish councils in the village and Cornwall Council to work out problems when they arise.
He said: 'We always take a multi-agency approach. It is the most efficient way to carry out our responsibilities. I usually put a short-term remedy in place and then raise it with the authorities such as the highways authority who can put in something longer-term.'
Mr Stewart said the situation of no yellow lines caused people to 'totally understandably' take part in chaotic parking free-for-all
Polzeath beach (pictured), a Cornish holiday hotspot, is loved by the super-wealthy
Polzeath is a small Cornish seaside resort that has become very popular with young people
The Cornwall village has become overrun in recent years with holidaymakers and surfers with problem parkers causing backlogs and delays
Mr Stewart said he and Ms Court are '100 per cent a team' and said the parish council is essentially his employer by using the money it receives from Cornwall Council.
'What happened in this scenario is that I raised these concerns to Marnie Court and sent pictures and videos to her and she acted as a conduit between us and the highways authorities, he said.
After being alerted to the problem by Ms Court, Cornwall Council's highways team worked quickly to put up the hundreds of cones needed to stop the village from descending into parking anarchy while villagers wait on the double yellow lines being painted.
The parish councils have also taken control of Polzeath's two public toilets after Cornwall Council removed funding for them a few
