Locals left terrified as famous beauty spot becomes overrun with campers lighting fires

PEOPLE living near a high-profile beach are in constant fear of a major fire in a forest that backs onto the sand.

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

Tensions at the Anglesey beauty spot have risen during a dry spell that's fuelled an early-season burst of illicit camping.

Locals have been left terrified by the number of fires being lit by visitors to Traeth Llanddwyn and Newborough Forest.

Photos shared online by residents this week show beach campfires just yards from a Corsican pine forest stretching across more than 2,500 acres. One, taken on Tuesday, April 8, shows two waste bins at the beach car park destroyed by the “idiotic” disposal of lit BBQs.

In response to the threat, warden patrols have been stepped up by site manager Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Between Friday and Sunday last weekend, they demanded 15 campfires be extinguished and asked 16 groups of campers to move or leave.

Whilst welcoming interventions by the local NRW team, residents believe more must be done to counter the threat. The area, a national nature reserve which includes the iconic tidal island of Ynys Llanddwyn, has seen its popularity soar in recent years in the wake of social media coverage.

As the beach has been the setting for several TV and film productions, such as House of the Dragon, it was also promoted by VisitBritain, the UK tourism agency, in its recent “Starring Great Britain” campaign.

Cathy Sands runs a Facebook group with 1,000 members who love the place. She said: “Everyone is massively concerned. We don't want to come across as killjoys but the fire risk is a significant threat. It worries me sick, it really does.

"I spoke to a senior fire officer who said that, if the forest went up in flames, they would not be able to manage the fire even if they pulled in appliances from across the region. I'm not alone in living in a property just a field away from the forest: if the forest burns, so will crops in the fields and then our homes.”