'PLEASE don't close the car park at night' — that is the emphatic message to Callington Town Council over possible moves to shut Saltash Road car park at night after complaints of noise from nearby residents.

Complaints about loud music, screeching tyres and abusive language by young people congregating there in the evening were highlighted in the Times last week. One resident described the young motorists who meet there as 'scoundrels'.

But those using the car park legitimately to socialise say they don't want to be 'tarred with the same brush' as those who cause any disturbance.

Alistair Street, 19, who meets his friends there to talk, mostly about their cars, told the Times: 'Yes, of course there are a few people that come up, make a racket, and drive off again but do not confuse that mere ten per cent of people with the majority of people up there.

'The fact that we are in a car park and not recklessly driving about the streets should be viewed as a good thing as we are not endangering anyone by standing around having a conversation.'

He said his group meet there because Tesco's car park is too far out for those without transport to meet and they do not use the Co-op car park out of respect for the residents of a nearby old people's home.

Alistair added: 'Closure of the car park would be a foolish move by the council as we would just move to another one as we need a place to socialise with friends and in some cases family.

'Young people have been congregating there for many years just to meet and it would be a shame that a few people could ruin that for the majority of us who use it sensibly.'

His sentiments were echoed by another user, Daniel Wiley, 26, from Launceston, who said: 'I am very often in the car park, probably at least three times a week, and I have to say that PCSO Mark Stribley has never actually stopped once to ask me to move on.

'He has driven around the car park, seen that we are not making any fuss and driven off again. There is no need for him to stop as we are not doing anything bad or disrupting the peace in any way.

'I feel that closing the car park at night would be an extremely bad idea, if the council decide to go down this road as very often while I am up there I see members of the public collecting their cars from the site at 11pm and sometimes later than that.

'A more sensible option would be to put up CCTV cameras in the car park to try and prevent this type of thing happening as it is the minority that is giving the majority a bad name, unfortunately,'