Barbecues and camp fires banned at beach

PEOPLE 'WORRIED SICK' ABOUT BLAZE RISK IN TINDER-DRY CONDITIONS

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor [e-mail]

BARBECUES and camp fires have been formally banned at one of Wales’ most popular beaches.

It follows 15 fire-related incidents at tree-lined Traeth Llandwyn, Anglesey, over the weekend.

The iconic beach is backed by 2,500-acre Newborough Forest, currently tin-der-dry after weeks of dry weather. Fearing the forest's destruction, and impacts on nearby homes, worried residents in the nearby village of Newborough have long campaigned for greater fire curbs.

Camp fires are already banned but this is routinely ignored.

A barbecue area is provided in the beach car park but, concerned this sends out the wrong message, the facility is to be removed in the coming weeks and replaced with a picnic area.

Local people have shared photos of “near-miss” fires that threatened to consume the entire forest.