Homeless people leave Newquay hotel to make way for G7 Summit police officers
More than a dozen homeless people were asked to leave a hotel in Cornwall to make way for police officers working at the G7 summit, according to a charity worker.
Fourteen vulnerable people staying at the hotel in Newquay were told to vacate their rooms after they were booked out by security staff.
More than 6,500 officers will be deployed in Cornwall for the three-day summit, which will see world leaders - including US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson - meet for discussions.
Some of those officers will be staying on board a giant cruise ship in Falmouth while around 4,000 rooms have been booked out in hotels and B&Bs.
But Cornwall Council said the lack of availability when it comes to temporary accommodation is largely due to the influx of tourists, not the G7 Summit.
Charity worker Monique Collins told ITV's Good Morning Britain: “Some of these get turfed out of their rooms, with children, and they end up in a B&B situation with one room with bunk beds.
“We’ve got people living in tents, people living in their cars. We’re one of the richest countries in the world so why is this allowed to happen?”
‘A seasonal issue’
In response, Cornwall Council blamed the lack of temporary accommodation on the busy summer season and recent influx of tourists - not the G7 or police officers.
“The lack of availability of temporary accommodation in local hotels is not as a result of the G7,” the authority said.
“It is a seasonal issue which has been exacerbated by the exceptional number of people we are supporting due to the pandemic.
“We continue to support those affected and the vast majority were offered alternative accommodation straight away.”
The G7 is an organisation made up of the world's seven richest countries.
They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
Russia joined in 1998, creating the "G8", but was excluded in 2014 for its takeover of Crimea.
The summit will formally begin on Friday 11 June.
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