Fans go to extreme lengths to glimpse House of the Dragon stars in North Wales

HUNDREDS of people have been turned away from locations being used to film House Of The Dragon (HoTD) in North West Wales.

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor

Most were innocent tourists, but a few went to extreme lengths to gain access to sites.

Season 3 filming has now ended in Dinorwig Quarry and at Llyn Padarn near Llanberis, Gwynedd and the focus will switch to Anglesey, with location prep well under way at Penmon and Newborough Forest.

The sheer scale of the sets built so far have amazed the few people who've been able to see them.

So too have been the steps taken to deter unwelcome visitors, some of whom travelled long distances in the hope of taking photos of actors and film sets.

Among them was a man from Romford, Essex, who was given his marching orders after he tried to access the three sets at Dinorwig Quarry.

Having arrived from filming HoTD locations in Northern Ireland, he wasn’t deterred and began flying a drone from higher up the quarry.

"It was pointless," said resident John Horrigan, who lives next to the quarry.

"The main set is in a huge cleft and they'd rigged up a covered gantry above it to prevent anyone looking in. They'd thought of everything!"

Last weekend, security guards at Dinorwig were disturbed to find a breach in one of their defences.

To prevent visitors reaching the quarry’s off-limits “hidden waterfall”, a major draw on social media, a 5ft metal barrier had been placed across a hole cut in fencing by trespassers.

Between midnight and 5am on Sunday morning, the barrier was destroyed.