 Pendine beach was closed to cars on July 9 |
Up to 30 cars have flouted a new vehicle ban on a west Wales beach, causing people to flee as they raced at high speeds up and down the sands. The incident, thought to have involved drivers from the Midlands area, happened 24 hours after the ban at Pendine came into force.
Police were called after beach rangers were powerless to tackle the racers.
The drivers left before officers got to the scene but appeals have been made for the ban to be respected.
 |  We had an incident on the weekend which was totally unacceptable  |
Onlookers described Saturday's incident as "frightening" and claimed the drivers ignored the safety of others.
The cars sped along the sands for close to an hour.
Last Friday a ban on vehicles driving on the beach was introduced by Carmarthenshire Council.
It follows a report by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents which warned of a risk of a serious accident if cars continued to be allowed on the sands.
The council's head of leisure, Colin James, said: "We had an incident on the weekend which was totally unacceptable and we hope it is isolated.
"The council is in touch with the police so that we may concentrate on ensuring a safe environment."
Carmarthenshire council was forced to take on the management of the seven-mile long beach after no one was willing to stand for the local community council.
 The slip ways to the beach have been blocked off to stop cars |
All seven members of Pendine Community Council refused to put themselves forward for re-election after being told they could face corporate manslaughter charges if there was a fatal accident.
Since the county council has taken over responsibility for the beach, five of the councillors and two new recruits have agreed to serve on the community council.
Clerk Paul Wilkins said the community council along with the Ministry of Defence, which owns a large section of the foreshore, would work with Carmarthenshire to try and improve safety there.
Barriers have been put up to try and block access to the sands but the racers managed to get through anyway.
"They were hurtling up and down the beach in cars and I was told it was quite frightening at the time," he said.
"It does illustrate the dangers."
He said there were mixed feelings on the ban but something had to be done to reduce the risk of accidents.
Sand buggies and other wind powered craft are also no longer able to use the beach as a result of the ban.
But talks will be held to see if they can be allowed back although their numbers and the area of the beach they could use would be regulated.
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