Caravan owner left homeless

ANOTHER caravan owner faces homelessness after being told by a Kinmel Bay holiday park that she can’t live in her caravan all year.

Virginia O’Brien bought the caravan at Golden Sands last spring, but alleges that she wasn’t told she couldn’t live there permanently.

The holiday park, which has 450 plots but only five for permanent residents, said Ms O’Brien was told she could not live in the caravan all year.

Ms O’Brien said she part-exchanged another caravan she had at Sirior Bach caravan park near Abergele for her Golden Sands caravan.

She said: “I gave them the caravan and £24,500, and moved in in May.

“My daughter heard them say I could live there. He let me believe I could live on the site.

“Now I’ve been told I can’t live there. Where am I going to live?”

The row comes after married couple Sandra and Jamie Fumagalli also wrongly believed they could live all year at their £90,000 caravan at Golden Sands.

Ms O’Brien has now complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service, an independent service for settling disputes between businesses and their customers.

A spokeswoman for the service said the case has been logged on its system and the adjudication will be made within months.

A spokeswoman for Golden Sands said: “Ms O’Brien is entitled to go to the Financial Ombudsman. We have heard nothing from them.

“The licence Ms O’Brien has for her caravan is for holiday use only, and she is in breach of contract if she is living in the unit. Unfortunately, due to the terms and conditions of our licence agreements, we will have to begin the process of termination of her licence if she cannot provide proof of a residential address elsewhere.

“Since October 2014, Conwy Council requires us to provide proof of residential addresses from all our caravan owners.

“On completing the purchase, Ms O’Brien signed a form which clearly stated that her caravan was not for residential use.

“In addition, she signed a licence agreement that also stated no residential use.

“At the point of every sale completion, each customer has a welcome meeting where they are taken through all the documents to clarify any issues.”