A red van travelling close to lightless porches (8)
I believe the answer is:
verandas
'porches' is the definition.
(veranda is a kind of porch)
'a red van travelling close to lightless' is the wordplay.
'travelling' indicates an anagram.
'close to' indicates one should take the final letters (the close of something is the end).
The last letter of 'lightless' is 's'.
'a'+'red'+'van'='aredvan'
'aredvan' is an anagram of 'veranda'.
'veranda'+'s'='VERANDAS'
(Other definitions for verandas that I've seen before include "Porches alongside buildings" , "Porches outside buildings" , "Large open porches" .)