Speed record beach at Pendine set for £7m revamp

The beach area where Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the land speed record in the legendary Blue Bird could be on track for a £7m revamp.

Plans have been made for an attraction at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, including a Sands of Speed museum, an events facility and a 42-bed hostel.

The project has been given £3m of European Union funds as part of the £7m total investment in the area.

There were five land speed record bids at Pendine between 1924 and 1927.

Sir Malcolm made three record attempts in total - the quickest in Blue Bird in February 1927 where he reached 174.22mph (280.38 km/h).

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Welshman JG Parry-Thomas made two attempts in his car Babs - but became the first driver to be killed in a world land speed record attempt driving at 170mph (270 km/h) in March 1927.

Carmarthenshire council has been working on a regeneration plan to address the "physical and commercial decline" of Pendine on the Carmarthen Bay coast since 2010.

The Blue Bird reached a speed of more than 170mph

A new £800,000 promenade and a £1m commercial block with public toilets and external showers has already been built and now the authorities want to complete the £7m scheme.

"Projects such as this in Pendine will give people compelling reasons to visit Wales and I look forward to plans which I have seen today coming to fruition - this will be a major boost for Carmarthenshire and south west Wales," said tourism minister Lord Elis Thomas.

Visit Wales hopes the regeneration will boost the local economy by £3.3m a year.