THOUSANDS of years of globally-important history and geology on an Anglesey beach has been “bulldozed and trashed” by council contractors, “for no good reason” say protesters.

Lleiniog beach and its surrounding area is part of a 6km coastal stretch designated an area of Special Scientific Interest that attracts scientists, marine biologists and geologists to study its unique glacial, archaeological and marine features.

According to the Countryside Council for Wales, Lleiniog provides some of the clearest evidence in North Wales for an incursion of Irish Sea ice during the Late Pleistocene period or ‘Ice Age’.

But, on Wednesday, and for several days, Isle of Anglesey County Council workmen have been at the site using heavy plant equipment.

A 200-yard stretch of Lleiniog beach, at Llangoed, has been torn up, leaving the once boulder-strewn beach bare.

Hundreds of tons of “glacially significant” rocks have been piled at the top end of the beach.

The council says the work was undertaken to solve flooding problems.

But residents and protesters, from the community group Friends of Llangoed, claim it has caused more problems.

They say there is already evidence of cliffs, containing significant alluvial deposits, boulders, cobbles, gravels, sands and mud, starting to erode.

They also point to the destruction of post-glacial peat bogs, which revealed archaeological evidence of man’s early existence on the site, and a medieval wharf indicating trade linked to Castle Aberlleiniog.

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AN “ABSOLUTE catastrophe” is how one Llangoed resident Gareth Phillips sees the destruction of Lleiniog Beach.

“It is a travesty, it has been trashed. The council just came in. No one knew it was happening until it was too late,” said Mr Phillips.

“There would have been a riot, people in the area would have stopped this if they had known."

“A lot of Llangoed and Beaumaris people are very upset and I am sure when the news gets out into the wider world there will be an outcry – it is such an important site.

“What we have lost in terms of the history, geology and archaeology is irreplaceable.

"Lleiniog’s beach and its rocks and features gave us significant evidence of our past going back twelve thousand years and more.

"It told us the story of this part of North Wales, and had global importance to academics, scientists, archaeologists and historians.

“The area at the beginning of the estuary, by the medieval stone clapper bridge is home to wading birds and there are also otters, which bred this year. The last thing we needed was bulldozers coming through. The beach has been flattened.”

The retired health care professional, who gives walks and talks in the Lleiniog and Llangoed area, and is part of the Seiriol Project, which aims to connect local people to their environment.

"The medieval wharf was a stone structure, which showed us how boats travelled up the estuary and brought trade in and out of the area and linked to the nearby Aberlleiniog Castle," he said.

“The council says the work was to alleviate flooding, but they have actually caused more problems, already cliffs are washing away because the rocks are no longer on the beach breaking the waves.”

An Isle of Anglesey County Council spokesman said: “Our Highways Service was requested to undertake works to the mouth of Aber Lleiniog to alleviate flooding issues in the area.

"A Marine Licence from Natural Resources Wales was in place to undertake these works.

“We also confirmed to Gwynedd Archaeological Planning Service we were not working in the area marked protected on their maps referencing the scheduled monument fish weirs.”

Mr Phillips added, “We can’t understand why the contractors went so far up the beach.

“I think it is clear that while they had a licence to clear gravel from the mouth of the river in a pointless effort to reduce flooding, they had no rationale to move 150 metres down the beach and destroy a number of important archaeological and geological features.

“Natural Resources Wales has been informed, and say action will be taken.”

Euros Jones, North West Wales Operations Manager for Natural Resources Wales, said: “We are aware of public concerns regarding works by heavy machinery at Aberlleiniog. A Marine Consent has been issued for work in this area.

“We are undertaking an initial assessment of the impact of the works, and will assess compliance with the licence conditions.

"As the Welsh Government are the enforcement authority for this licence, we have notified them of the issue, and will pass on our assessments to Welsh Government promptly.”