by Chris Jefferies
Last month, you may have read a story on Caravan Times about a man who was paralysed after eating a pork chop that was cooked on his caravan stove.
Now, we’re very happy to report that father of three Darren Ashall from Chorley in Lancashire, is on the road to recovery, according to the Lancashire Evening Post.
After five months in hospital, Darran has been released from intensive care and he is adjusting to life at home, the local paper added.
Despite still suffering some of the side-effects of listeria meningitis, the bug he caught from the ill-prepared chop, the plant operator is in good spirits.
“I am definitely getting better. The feeling of going out in the fresh air after being stuck indoors for months was amazing. The first thing I did when I got home was eat a bacon buttie – I’d been really longing for one after being in hospital for so long,” he said.
Darran is one of just 200 people worldwide to have been diagnosed with this rare disease, which he caught after failing to cook his meat properly on a caravan stove.
He is also due to appear on Channel Five’s The Wright Stuff Extra to talk about his experience, which he hopes to write up as a book one day.
The local paper also reports that Darran is hoping to return to work once or twice a week in the near future.
Caravan owners are advised that the symptoms of meningitis are similar to those of the common cold. To find out more information, support the search for a vaccine or get a symptom card, please visit the Meningitis UK website.

by Chris Jefferies

Controversial plans for a setting up a bar in an Airstream caravan on the top of a cliff have had to be abandoned after 40 local residents voiced their objections.

The owners of the Atlantic House Hotel at New Polzeath in Cornwall had planned to set up the temporary bar and beer garden, but were forced to pull out at the eleventh hour, the Cornish Guardian reports.

Local opposition mainly focused on the fact that the plot in question was registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Other objections included the health and safety implications of allowing people to drink alcohol so near a cliff edge and the impact that regular visits from drunken revellers could have on the area and the wider environment.

Had the proposals been voted through, then the makeshift venue would have been able to sell alcohol on this spot from 11am to 10pm every day until the end of October.

It was hoped that visitors would be allowed to enjoy a drink in the classic silver Airstream caravan, while enjoying the view, with additional picnic benches included as part of a fenced-off area.

The u-turn was so late that the tourer had even been delivered to the site opposite Atlantic Terrace, which was going to be called the Doom Bar.

Polzeath resident and campaigner Diana Millington, told the local paper: “This is amazing news. It shows the hotel does have a concern for the local people.”