'Overwhelmed' beach and forest locked down

A POPULAR beach and its forest were locked down after wardens became “overwhelmed” by visitors illegally lighting fires and barbecues.

- ANDREW FORGRAVE

An entry gate was closed for three hours at Newborough National Nature Reserve on Anglesey to safeguard both visitors and wildlife.

Traeth Llanddwyn beach, often rated one of the best in Wales, was packed at the weekend as temperatures soared. On Saturday, the Met Office said Porthmadog in Gwynedd 18 miles further south was the warmest place in Britain (27.4C) and the fine weather sent people flocking to the Welsh coast.

Due to the serious implications of a blaze at the 2,500-acre forest, a reserve-wide ban on barbecues and open fires is in place. With conditions there currently bone-dry the risks have magnified, and ahead of the weekend visitors were reminded of the ban by site manager Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

Wild camping is also prohibited but this is routinely ignored, with issues escalating this summer. NRW wardens do their best to tackle the twin menace but on Saturday afternoon things began getting out of hand.

Local resident Cathy Sands, who runs a Llanddwyn appreciation group on Facebook, was horrified by what she saw. "From 3pm, people were starting to pitch tents on the beach and light barbecues," she said. "Not windbreaks, proper tents.