A parking free-for-all along a Teignmouth seafront road could be in for a major shake-up.

The resort might become 'motorhome friendly', with special short-stay facilities to attract more year-round tourism.

The future of the Upper Den Carriageway was the subject of a long debate by town councillors, who had conflicting views on what should be done.

There are currently no parking regulations along the road and complaints have been lodged that many cars are left there all day, while some people are living in motorhomes and, on occasions, caravans.

The proposals put forward at a town council meeting included two-hour waiting, parking meters, a ban on overnight camping, closing it off to traffic during the winter as well as summer, and turning it into a private road, controlled by the town council.

A consensus could not be agreed, and the finance and general purposes committee eventually decided to set up a working party to consider all the options, and make recommendations.

Teignmouth county councillor Cllr Chris Bray told the meeting that the town centre partnership favoured a two-hour limit on parking and pay-and-display meters to give more motorists the chance to park, while preventing overnight stays. The summer closing of the highway should be retained.

Several members were annoyed that camping vehicles were parking there for long periods, and apparently being lived in.

Cllr Geoff Bladon said there was no objection to campers parking there by day, but at night they should be in commercial camp sites. There were also health and hygiene concerns.

But Cllr Terry Falcao was puzzled why motorhomes had suddenly become 'the devil incarnate'.

His solution was to provide dedicated areas for campers, which were becoming more and more popular and used all year round, usually by owners who were reasonably well off, and would spend in Teignmouth.

'We do not want to give the message that they are not welcome here. They would provide an economic boost to traders, especially off-season.

'We should look at ways of getting more into Teignmouth by providing the right facilities. The Upper Den is not the best place, so we should offer alternatives. Campers bring money into the town and are a source of tourism that we should be encouraging,' Cllr Falcao added.

Cllr David Cox agreed and favoured providing special parking bays in car parks such as the Point and Eastcliff, and making a reasonable charge for a maximum stay of about 48-hours. It would provide an income for car parks that were not earning at night and boost all the year around tourism.

'Many of the owners are retired, with time and money to spend. They are just the sort of people we need, and we should be encouraging the grey pound, not driving them away.

'We should work with Teignbridge Council, which is now looking at providing facilities for motorhomes in its car parks, and send out a signal that Teignmouth is camper friendly.'

Cllr Sylvia Russell came up with the radical idea of the town council taking over the road from the county council, and making it a private highway.

'The road is part of the Den, and has always belonged to Teignmouth. We should take it over. It is rightfully ours, and has always been free,' she declared.

Cllr Bladon was worried about the high cost of maintaining the road. He said the Upper Den was a useful free parking area for residents in the winter, and believed that the chronic shortage of parking would not be solved without a multistorey car park. Opportunities had been lost in the past.

Cllr Vince Fusco wanted the problem of of overnight parking to be given priority, and the mayor, Cllr Fred Tooley, agreed, but also supported trying to encourage more tourists.

Town clerk Dave Tickell insisted it was not a question of charging, but of controlling the parking so there was a fairer turn around of cars. This could be done by a fee as low as a penny, so there would at least be some control over how long vehicles stayed.

Committee chairman Cllr Don Baldey maintained that all parking in Teignmouth needed sorting out, and revealed he had recently been given a ticket for parking outside his own home in Northumberland Place.

Cllr David Weekes thought the problem was not campers, but society itself and the increase in cars on the road. They should concentrate just on the Upper Den at the moment, or otherwise they would end up with a mish-mash of different things.

He favoured a ban on vehicles using the road at any time of the year. The vast majority of people parking there were working in the town, and were the main cause of the spaces always being full.

Cllr Bray asked the council to 'give a clear steer' on the preferred options for the seafront, so he could pass it on to county council officers, who would make the final recommendations to the appropriate committee.

The members of the working party are Cllrs Fusco, Martin Bladon, Tooley, Russell and Weekes.