Cornish house prices 14 times average salary - The Pasty sells saffron cakes from Cornwall and Cornish pasties

Average house prices in Cornwall are up to 14 times the average salary, according to a survey by The Western Morning News.

The findings revealed that the average person in Penwith only earns a quarter of what they would need to earn in order to afford a mortgage on an average home, with average earnings at £14,716 a year - one 14th of the average house price of £207,103.

Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George, said: “The way in which the housing market operates in places like ours in completely unacceptable.

“The biggest impediment to taking action of the kind I would like to see taken in respect of second homes is that, in law, a second home is notoriously difficult to define - especially if one of a couple claims they reside permanently in it whilst the other claims they reside permanently in the other home.

Tim Jones, of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said: “This is very much a crisis situation and we need to stop talking about it and take some very urgent action. This problem is not going to go away. It is gradually getting worse.”

Residents of Portleven want the number of second homes and holiday homes capped, claiming second homes force up house prices for locals and their owners contribute little to the local economy.

The Porthleven Action Group is holding a public meeting about the issue with local MP Andrew George on Friday.

Porthleven has a population of about 3,000 and Rod Stephens, from the group, says he believes the imbalance is destroying the town.

“How do you make community spirit with somebody who is with us one or two weeks out of 52?” he said.

“You need somebody who is a long-term resident to actually imbibe that community spirit.”

Andrew George, the Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, says he wants the Government to give local authorities more power to protect housing stock for local people.