Pembrokeshire council bid to licence horse-drawn carriages

Tenby Carriage Rides are currently the only horse-drawn carriage business in Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire council is consulting on how to best regulate horse-drawn carriages in the county.

The local authority said it currently had no power to restrict the number operating as a business, or to regulate the safety or prevent nuisance.

There is currently only one horse-drawn carriage business in the county, in Tenby.

Kate Telford, of Tenby Carriage Rides, said she had not been contacted about the consultation and felt "targeted".

A report by the council's head of legal and democratic services said there had been a horse-drawn carriage operating within the walled town in Tenby for more than 25 years.

It said the same operator provided the service until retirement a few years ago when a new operator took over.

Shortly after, a second new operator moved into the town, which led to complaints about the operation of two services in a confined area, and the health and safety implications this had on pedestrians and other road users, the report said.

Historically the authority has licensed horse-drawn carriages of less than eight seats as hackney carriages, but, the report said, the current operator has a carriage with more than eight seats.

The consultation is looking at whether the council should introduce a licensing regime, with byelaws.

Ms Telford said: "I'm quite shocked about it. We do it to help the town and have people from all over the world coming to us.

"If it's going to cost thousands of pounds, we won't be able to do it."

The consultation runs until 22 September.