A woman who has been living out of her van in Thanet for the past four years has struck out at council bosses after she discovered public taps had been removed from a seafront.

Julie Verrall said the taps attached to the public toilets on Westbrook seafront, just along the coast from Margate's main sands, are a lifeline for many homeless people and others who live out of their vehicles.

The toilets have been closed during the national lockdown, so the taps were one of the few public places clean running water was available in the area.

The 45-year-old said: "I think it's disgusting people can't get access to fresh drinking water.

"It's a massive shame because obviously homeless and houseless people have now no access to water at all along the seafronts and a lot of people do rely on them.

"Thanet Council and the welfare team are well aware that people use those taps, and I just find it a bit of a disgrace that the taps have been taken away to stop people accessing water."

The taps had sinks underneath them which Julie said was used by some people to wash their clothes and try to keep clean.

She said: "I've seen someone with a bit of washing up liquid with his head under the tap in the freezing cold, washing his hair.

"Now those taps are no longer there they can no longer wash.

"Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and leaves you in a bad situation, sometimes you haven't got the money for the water, so it's easier to go to a tap and get yourself cleaned up like that."

Unlike most people living out of their vehicles, Julie lives this way out of choice.

Forced to sleep in her van in 2016 after becoming homeless, she realised she preferred this mode of life to living in a traditional bricks and mortar home.

She said: "I absolutely love it. Once I moved into a van I realised that I could pay debts and save money. It was amazing.

"The whole of Thanet is beautiful. I travel around the whole island and I wouldn't change it for the world."

Julie worked at Tag Pet Rescue at Lydden Farm, Margate, for 15 years but since lockdown began in March she has been out of work.

With the taps now gone from Westbrook seafront, Julie believes people sleeping rough will find it even more difficult to keep clean and stay healthy.

She said: "I choose this life but not everyone does."

Jo and David Owen found themselves homeless throughout the first coronavirus lockdown, losing their home in October 2019.

They were forced to live out of their old campervan, moving from place to place across the isle when they could.

One of the biggest difficulties for the pair was finding access to fresh water to drink and keep themselves clean.

Jo said: "I always thought that having access to fresh water was a human right but apparently not.

"Finding fresh water would have been a nightmare if not for my son."

They were forced to have their adult son fill up containers for them but during the lockdown they had to get him to leave them outside his home so they could remain socially distanced.

Jo and her husband were not made aware of any places they could access fresh water.

She said: "The guy from Porchlight didn't know where we could get water either.

"We didn't use the taps at Westbrook because we didn't know about it until about a month before we were housed."

The couple were found accommodation in July and now live in King Street, Ramsgate, but say that many are still in the same situation they managed to escape.

The 54-year-old said: "There are far more people living out of vehicles than people realise. It's hidden homelessness because you're not as visible.

"Plus the prejudice against the homeless is far worse than we expected.

"This is only going to get worse in the near future because of the impact on the economy from coronavirus and it's always the poor who suffer the most."

Public taps are often turned off during the winter months, but it is understood the ones at Westbrook beach have remained on for the past four years.

A spokesperson from Thanet District Council said: "The coastal water supplies are normally turned off for the winter season and turned back on for the start of the season.

"This year, taps have also been removed to prevent frost damage.

"This is the case at Westbrook where the two taps above the sinks at either end of the toilet facilities have been removed and a further tap that is located on the promenade where beach huts are located in season.

"This is just temporary and the taps will all be reinstalled after the winter months."

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