Campaigners say peat has been uncovered on some beaches

The two-year extension enabling Llanelli Sand Dredging Ltd to take up to 214,000 tonnes of sand from a bank near Port Eynon was announced on Wednesday by Welsh Assembly minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside Carwyn Jones.

The assembly, he said, will continue to monitor the sand levels and take appropriate action if they reduce dramatically.

But the reaction from pressure group Gower Save Our Sands (Gower SOS) was "we feel betrayed".

"It is a symbol that the politicians have turned their backs on the will of the people," said campaign co-ordinator Mike Jenkins.

"Two years ago the people of Gower and Swansea signed a 30,000-named petition calling for the dredging to stop.

"The decision to allow the dredging firm to take more sand is disgusting."

Where there was once beautiful golden sands there are now bedrock and peat Mike Jenkins

The licence to Llanelli Sand Dredging Ltd has put a limit of no more than 107,000 tonnes of sand to be extracted in a year.

The assembly have said the impact of a further two years' dredging had been assessed and that it would not have an adverse effect.

However, Mr Jenkins said the long-term future of the Gower as an area of outstanding natural beauty was in jeopardy.

"The bank is a Glacial sand relic and is a finite resource," he said.

"Once it has gone it will not replace itself.

"So much sand has been dredged along the shoreline that the beaches have dropped dramatically - by four to five feet in some places.

"Where there was once beautiful golden sands there are now bedrock and peat.

"We really rely so heavily on tourism if they take away the reason why people come to the Gower i.e. the beaches people will stop coming."

"We'd like to see a ten mile ban of commercial dredging off the shoreline."

Sand levels

Carwyn Jones said: "We have considered in detail the data and information in our possession, including the results of monitoring over the past 10 years," he said.

"Whilst we can see there are sometimes natural changes from storms and changing seasons, the monitoring shows that the volumes of sand on the beaches remain relatively constant over time."