Residents of a Camborne street claim that within 48 hours of being forced to park their cars at the front of their houses or risk them being clamped their vehicles have been shot at, vandalised and crashed into.

Dee Tindale, from Barncoose Terrace, said that over the course of 48 hours two cars had been keyed, one had a light damaged by a pellet gun and another had been involved in road traffic collision.

She said: "We've been parking at the front of the house and that's where the damage has occurred. This is terrible. If we could park where we'd always parked this damage wouldn't have happened. In the road traffic accident somebody could have been seriously injured. It's a busy, busy road."

Mrs Tindale claimed the problems began when the residents were told by Kerrier district council to remove their cars from a field they were parking in at the back of their houses, which meant they were forced to park at the front of the terrace.

It followed a letter that was received by all the residents from Kerrier council assistant solicitor Mark Pearce, who ordered them to remove their cars by April 11, claiming that by parking on the land residents were potentially contravening a covenant.

Mr Pearce wrote: "Should you have any vehicles on the council's land, or parked to the rear of your premises, using an unlawful access over the council's land, then they are likely to be completely land-locked after the execution of the works. Any vehicles found on the council's land after April 11, 2007, will be treated as being abandoned and will be dealt with in accordance with the council's abandoned vehicle procedure."

Residents, however, claim that there is an agreement allowing them to park on the section of the field directly behind their houses.

In a statement given to the Packet, Mr Pearce said: "The council has a responsibility, as with any other owner of land, to protect its assets, particularly because the land is a public asset. There are covenants affecting the land which prevent its use for residential purposes and the unauthorised use is potentially a breach of those covenants. It would be entirely inappropriate for the council to risk public funds in not dealing with the breach and then having to respond to any action for breach of covenant, when the course of action adopted by the council is the obvious and sensible thing to do.

"Representatives from the council met with residents' representatives earlier on this month to inform them of the intention to prevent the continued unlawful access across the industrial estate. The council is also considering the design, financial and legal issues regarding a possible future access for the residents. Although the question of access is not a straightforward one, the approach adopted by the council is appropriate and necessary to ensure the best use of its assets and the delivery of the anticipated benefits to the wider community."

Robert Grose, head of service regeneration at Kerrier council, added that it was "unfortunate" that the residents have suffered vandalism to their vehicles and he would refer the matter to the council's community safety officer to see if they could assist in any way. He also said that residents should report incidents of vandalism to the police, or alternatively they could report them to the anti social behaviour team on 01209 614336 or 01209 614337.