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Popular tourist beach in Wales warns visitors not to steal the stones or face £1,000 fine


VISITORS to Amroth beach in Pembrokshire have been warned not to take the pebbles along the shore – or risk a fine up to £1,000.

However, the sign was put up not by the city council, but a “seaside vigilante”.

 The sign has warned visitors not to take the stones from the beach

Wales News Service

The sign has warned visitors not to take the stones from the beach

The warning message to visitors claims it is a crime to pinch pebbles from their beach.

The mystery message was put up to protect the pebbles on the beach at Amroth in Pembrokeshire.

Puzzled beach-goers have been warned they could be fined for taking a pebble back home for their garden decorations.

The unsigned laminated sign reads: “The stones on this beach are part of Amroth’s vital sea defences.

“Removal is a criminal offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution.”


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The offence falls under the Coastal Protection Act 1949, and offenders face a fine of up to £1,000 for leaving areas exposed to erosion.

But other local people have had mixed reactions to the sign appearing on the beach at Amroth.

Mark Woodward said on Facebook: “During the heyday of TV’s Ground Force programme and Charlie Dimmock with her water features, in Dorset they had to sue people taking stones from the famous Chesil Beach as so many were being taken.

“People were going there with sacks to get them.”

 The beach is popular with tourists and locals in Pembrokshire

Wales News Service

The beach is popular with tourists and locals in Pembrokshire

But Ben Williams said it was difficult to stop sometimes.

He said: “When your three-year-old little girl wants to keep a pretty little pebble she found I can’t say no.

“It’s not what people take off the beaches that’s the problem, it’s what ends up on the beaches that people throw away.”

A spokesman for Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed the poster was not one of theirs.

Last year, a man was told to drive hundreds of miles back to a beach in Cornwall to return some stones he stole, or risk a £1,000 fine.

There are now large warning signs at Crackington Haven, near Bude, following the theft.

It isn’t just the UK – tourists could face similar fines on the Greek island Skiathos for taking any pebbles with them, following it’s popularity after the film Mamma Mia!.





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