Roadworks in Cornwall go AROUND car parked in St Austell

The Vauxhall motorist reportedly ignored warnings to move ahead of planned maintenance in St Austell, Cornwall.

They left the car parked on double yellow lines on Clifden Road - forcing workers to pave around them and leave an unsightly mess.

The abandoned car also caused a safety hazard by forcing visitors to a local Cornwall Air Ambulance charity shop to creep into the road in order to turn.

Locals say that the vehicle had also been issued with multiple parking fines - but that the council are powerless to relocate it.

The roadworks team left facing an obstacle (Image: Paul Williams / SWNS)

In a statement, Cornwall Council said: "Inconsiderate parking is an increasing issue and has a big impact on our maintenance regimes and is an issue we face across Cornwall.

"As a result of this increase we are exploring our legal options to remove vehicles situated within our road works.

"On occasion we do approach the police for their assistance, but this is not always the case and of course also puts strain on their resource as well as our own.

The car was left close to the Cornwall Air Ambulance charity shop (Image: Paul Williams / SWNS)

"We will try to resurface around the vehicle if it cannot be moved before works are completed on that section. The cost of returning to site for such a small area is quite significant, not to mention the impact on others of closing the road again.

"To do this we would need another legal order which can take up to three months to obtain and adds to the cost. The added obstacles on site can also prolong the surfacing operation and affect the quality of the finish.

"We hope in the future to understand our options in removing vehicles but in the meantime, any disruption by parked cars, ultimately costs the public more money so we would ask the public to pay attention to notices and be kind to the workforce and relocate their vehicles where requested."

The road had to be dug up around the car (Image: Paul Williams / SWNS)