Tourists fuel road rage by House of the Dragon beach

The authorities temporarily closed access to the beach back in 2021 to control traffic problems

A village on Anglesey used to film the House of the Dragon series has seen “road rage” incidents between tourists trying to get to a popular beach, according to residents.

Ynys Llanddwyn and the nearby beach have been made even more famous by TV programmes, including the Game of Thrones spinoff, who have used the area as a filming location.

But to get there visitors have to drive through the village of Newborough, often causing large and complicated traffic jams.

A public consultation event is taking place on Thursday to discuss what can be done to solve the problem.

Alice Marshall has seen "road rage" incidents and constant traffic problems in the street during the summer

The only road to the beach starts in the centre of Newborough, but it is narrow in places.

Parked cars also mean traffic can only pass in one direction at a time.

But with thousands of cars a week heading to the beach in high summer, people in Newborough say the road regularly can’t cope.

One resident, Alice Marshall, described things as “really hectic, all day".

“It can start as early as nine in the morning”, she said, “but when people are trying to get to the beach and there is traffic coming the other way, everything just gridlocks.

“You get road rage arguments between drivers – I’ve seen people get out of their cars to argue with each other, and then other people getting angry behind them because they’re not moving.”

Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith feature in House of the Dragon

The authorities have put road closed signs in place in the past when the car park near the beach gets full - to try to reduce the amount of traffic using the road.

Gwyndaf Rowlands said his family has been living in Newborough for four generations.

He said: “The problem has been building over years – social media has made Llanddwyn beach more popular than ever.

“We’ve had celebrities filming here, big TV series and adverts filmed here, and big events like the Sandman triathlon.

“It’s turning the place into a theme park.”

TV programmes such as House of the Dragon have used the area around Llanddwyn for filming

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) looks after the beach, the nearby forest area and the car parks, while Anglesey council manages the roads in Newborough.

Both organisations are meeting with residents today to hear ideas for possible solutions.

NRW said it encouraged people to “consider quieter locations away from busy sites such as Newborough and to make a plan B in case a destination is too busy on arrival".

A spokesperson said: “We refrain from using Newborough National Nature Reserve and Forest or Ynys Llanddwyn in marketing materials as much as possible and we work to encourage others to do the same."

The area's natural beauty makes it a popular filming location

NRW also said it put restrictions on filming requests “to minimise the impact on local people and the area".

“We are supporting Thursday’s community workshop as this type of forward-looking partnership in the community is central to our management of the site.

“Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Service Board has recognised the need for everyone to work together with the community to tackle the complex problems at Newborough."

Llinos Medi, leader of Anglesey council, added: “Newborough is a village steeped in Welsh history.

“The local community faces a number of challenges during the summer months, in particular, with visitor numbers increasing significantly.

“We look forward to working with NRW and other partners to ensure improvements to access and transportation which will improve the wellbeing of residents and provide sustainable benefits for the local community.”